THE CALIFORNIA SEA LION. 333 



there till the human foe has departed. One day, however, a landing was 

 successfully effected by pulling against the wind, and the poor brutes 

 were massacred, for a seal-hunt is a mere butchery of unresisting victims. 

 At present the authorities of California carefully preserve the Seal Rock, 

 which has become one of the natural curiosities of San Francisco. 



Sea Lions are in demand for menageries and aquariums all over the 

 world. Captain Mullett, who supplies this demand, gives an interesting 

 account of the method of capture. 



" Our field of operations is on the lower or Mexican coast of Califor- 

 nia, as we are not allowed to catch the lions in American waters. We 

 are therefore compelled to operate off San Diego, which is the dividing 

 line of California and Mexico. Our method of capturing the lions is 

 this : They go in rookeries of one hundred or more, and we watch the 

 shore to see where they will go into camp. This we can determine from 

 the fact that they carry their young on shore, leave them, and go back 

 to the water, returning at break of day. When we find a camp, we dig 

 trenches in the sand to hide in, or if there are rocks convenient, we hide 

 behind them. The vessels are anchored some distance off the shore, and 

 we bring from them in small boats cages made of six-inch fencing-boards. 

 When the herd comes ashore, the lassoers watch their opportunity, and 

 lasso one of the lions around the neck. Another lasso is then fastened to 

 one of the hind-flippers, and the lion is forced into one of the cages. 

 This must be done within a short time, or the animal will not live. I give 

 orders that if twenty minutes elapse from the time the animal is lassoed 

 until he is in the cage, the men must let him go. This is necessary, from 

 the fact that if kept longer, they struggle and strain themselves so that 

 they die within a few days afterwards. After the lion is captured, a 

 shot, to which a long rope is attached, is fired from a bomb-gun on the 

 shore over the vessel ; the other end of the rope is attached to one of the 

 cages, and it is pushed into the breakers and hauled out to the vessel. 

 On board the vessel the lions are not put in water, but are kept wet with 

 a sprinkler. They are then taken to San Francisco, where they are 

 placed in cars built for the purpose, and transported across the conti- 

 nent, each car containing twelve lions." 



THE WALRUS. 



The family of the Trichechid.-e comprises only one genus and one 

 species, the well-known Walrus or Morse. It is a very characteristic 



