330 ^ARNIVC?.A. 



The Sea Bears, like the Otariae, are migratory, but it is not known 

 where they pass the winter; they return in spring, each family to the 

 same spot for years in succession; an Indian chief in Alaska observed a 

 male that had lost one of its flippers come back to the identical rock for 

 seventeen years. Steller writes that each male has eight to fifteen 

 females, whom he watches jealousl\-, and, although on the coasts where 

 they were observed these seals were lying in thousands, yet each family 

 kept distinct ; such a family, consisting of an old male, his wives, his sons 

 and daughters, and yearlings which had not yet paired, amounts often to 

 one hundred and twenty. The females bring forth usually two cubs, which 

 are covered with very fine brilliant black wool, and which play about 

 like young dogs, while the father looks placidly on, only interfering when 

 a quarrel takes place, in which case he always caresses the conqueror. 

 The males also fight among themselves for the possession of the females, 

 or a resting-place on the shore ; old defeated males are often found lead- 

 ing a solitary life, and they are bad-tempered and vicious. Their cries 

 are of three- sorts; when unoccupied, and on land, they low like cows 

 that have lost their calves ; when fighting, they growl like bears ; when 

 .'ictorious, they utter repeatedly a loud scream which Steller compares 

 to the note of a house-cricket ; when wounded they spit like cats. The 

 males kiss the females, according to the same observer, and wag their 

 hind-flippers as a dog does his tail. They are very active, and swim ten 

 to twelve knots an hour. They are very tenacious of life, and will stand 

 before dj-ing two hundred knocks on the head. 



The Sea Bear is especially hunted for his fur, and, fortunately, any 

 number of these seals can be obtained. On St. Paul's Island there were 

 twelve miles of coast occupied by these creatures with an average width 

 of fifteen rods. Allowing twenty seals to the square rod, we have the 

 number of breeding seals as 1,152,000: deducting one-tenth for males, 

 there remains 1,037,800 females. The Russian Fur Company used to pay 

 to the fishers ten cents a skin, the skin when salted being worth three 

 dollars. This price fluctuates with the fashions of the day. When 

 Alaska was transferred to us the price of seal-skins rose to seven dollars, 

 but in 1871 it fell again to three dollars. In 1873, it is estimated that 

 145,000 were taken, and the net value of the fishery is put down at 

 $1,175,000 per annum. Besides the skin, each seal yields a gallon and a 

 half of oil. The chief time for hunting is from June to September. The 

 skins of the young are much prized for clothing. 



