64 ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 



and interesting phases of this remarkable exhibition of highly organ- 

 ized life. When they first bunch together they are all black, for they 

 have not begun to shed the natal coat; they shine with an unctuous, 

 greasy reflection, and grouped in small armies or great regiments on 

 the sand-dune tracts at Northeast Point they present a most extraor- 

 dinary and fascinating sight. Although the appearance of the "hol- 

 luschickie " at English Bay fairly overwhelms the observer with the 

 impression of its countless multitudes, yet I am free to declare that 

 at no one ijoint in this evolution of the seal life, during the reproduc- 

 tive season, have I been so deepl}- stricken b}^ the sense of overwhelm- 

 ing enumeration as I have when, standing on the summit of Cross 

 Hill, I looked down to the southward and westward over a reach of 6 

 miles of alternate grass and sand-dune stretches, mirrored upon which 

 were hundreds of thousands of these little black pups, spread in sleep 

 and sport ^^dthin this restricted field of vision. They appeared as 

 countless as the grains of the sand upon which they rested. 



Second change of coat. — By the 15th of September all the pups 

 born during the year have become familiar with the water; they have 

 all learned to swim, and are now nearly all down by the water's edge, 

 skirting in large masses the rocks and beaches previously, this year, 

 unoccupied by seals of any class. Now they are about five or six 

 times their original weight, or, in other words, they are 30 to 40 

 pounds avoirdupois, as plump and fat as butterballs, and they begin 

 to take on their second coat, shedding their black pup hair completely. 

 This second coat does not vary in color, at this age, between the 

 sexes. They effect this transformation in dress very slowly, and can 

 not, as a rule, be said to have ceased their molting until the middle 

 or 20th of October. 



This second coat, or sea-going jacket, of the pup, is a uniform, 

 dense, light-graj^ overhair, with an underfur which is slightly grayish 

 in some, but is in most cases a soft, light-brown hue. Tlie overhair 

 is fine, close, and elastic, from two-thirds of an inch to an incli in 

 length, while the fur is not quite half an inch long. Thus the coarser 

 hair shingles over and conceals the soft underwool coniftletely, giving 

 the color by Avhich, after the second year, the sex of the animal is recog- 

 nized. The j)ronounced difference between the sexes is not effected, 

 however, by color alone until the third year of the animal. This over- 

 hair of the young pup's new jacket, on the back, neck, and head, is a 

 dark chinchilla-gray, blending into a stone- white, just tinged with a 

 grayish tint on the abdomen and chest, 'i'lie upper lip, upon which 

 the whiskers or mustaches take root, is covered with hair of a lighter 

 gray than that of the bod3\ This mustache consists of 15 or 20 longer 

 or shorter bristles, from half an inch to 3 inches in length, some brown- 

 ish, horn-colored, and others whitish-gra}^ and translucent, on each 

 side, and l)a(;k and below the nostrils, leaving the muzzle quite prom- 

 inent and hairless. The nasal openings and their surroundings are, 

 as I have before said when speaking of this feature, similar to those 

 of a dog. 



Eyes of the pup seals. — The most attractive feature about the 

 fur-seal pup, and. that which holds this place as it grows on and older, 

 is the eye. This organ is exceedingly clear, dark, and liquid, with 

 which, for beauty and amiability, together with real intelligence of 

 expression, those of no other animal that I have ever seen or have 

 ever read of can be compared; indeed, there are few eyes in the orbits 

 of men and women which suggest more pleasantly tlie ancient thought 

 of their being " Avindows to the soul." The lids to the eye are fringed 

 with long, perfect lashes, and the slightest irritation in the way of dust 



