THE FUR-SEAL ISLANDS OF ALASKA. 33 



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 whale-boat, used evidently 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 say 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 off 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 grizzly 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 

 u w jg» The body-colors are most intense and pronounced upon the back of the head, neck, and spine, fading dowu 

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

 pavilions or auricles are tightly rolled up on 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 according 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, lrom what I have seen of it. I have not been able to verify it in 

 either case by actual observation : yet such opportunity as I have had gives me undoubted proof of the fact, that 

 the hearing of the fur-seal is wonderfully keeu and surpassingly acute. If you make any noise, no matter how 

 slight, the alarm will be given instantly by these insignificant-looking auditors, and the animal, awaking from 

 profound sleep, assumes, with a single motion, an erect posture, gives a stare of stupid astonishment, at the same 

 time breaking out into incessant, surly roaring, growling, and "spitting". 



Voice of the fur-seal. — This spitting, as I call it, is by no means a fair or full expression of the most 

 characteristic sound or action, so far as I have observed, peculiar to the fur-seals alone, the bulls in particular. It 

 is the usual prelude to all their combats, and it is their signal of astonishment. It follows somewhat in this 

 way: when the two disputants are nearly within reaching or striking distance, they make a number of feints 

 or false passes, as fencing-masters do, at one another, with the mouth wide open, lifting the lips or snarling so as 

 to exhibit the glistening teeth, and with each pass of the head and neck they expel the air so violently through 

 the larynx, as to make a rapid choochoochoo sound, like steam-puffs as they escape from the smoke-stack of a 

 locomotive when it starts a heavy train, especially while the driving-wheels slip on the rail. 



All of the bulls have the power and frequent incliuatiou to utter four distinct calls or notes. This is 

 not the case with the sea lion, t whose voice is confined to a single bass roar, or that of the walrus, which is 

 limited to a dull grunt, or that of the hair-seal, t which is inaudible. This volubility of the fur-seal is decidedly 

 characteristic and prominent; he utters a hoarse, resonant roar, loud and long; he gives vent to a low, entirely 

 different, gurgling growl; he emits a chuckling, sibilant, piping whistle, of which it is impossible to convey 

 an adequate idea, for it must be heard to be understood; and this spitting or choo sound just mentioned. 

 The cows§ have but one note — a hollow, prolonged, bla-a-ting call, addressed only to their pups; ou all other 

 occasions they are usually silent. It is something strangely like the cry of a calf or an old sheep. They also make 

 a spitting sound or snort when suddenly disturbed— a kind of a cough, as it were. The pups "blaat" also, with little 

 or no variation, their sound being somewhat weaker and hoarser than their mother's, after birth ; they, too, comically 

 spit or cough when aroused suddenly from a nap or driven into a corner, opening their little mouths like young 

 birds in a nest, when at bay, backed up in some crevice, or against some tussock. 



Indeed, so similar is the sound, that I noticed that a number of sheep which the Alaska Commercial Company 

 had brought up from San Francisco to St, George island, during the summer of 1873, were constantly attracted to 

 the rookeries, and were running in among the "holluschickie"; so much so, that they neglected the good pasturage 



* " Hauling up," a technical term, applied to the action of the seals when they land from the surf and haul up or drag themselves 

 over the beach. It is expressive and appropriate, as are most of the sealing phrases. 



t Eximetopias Stelleri. t Phoca vitulina. 



§ Without explanation, I may be considered as making use of paradoxical language by using these terms of description; for tho 

 inconsistency of talking of "pups", with "cows", and "bulls", and "rookeries", on the breeding-grounds of the same, cannot fail to be 

 noticed ; but this nomenclature has been given and used by tho American and English whaling and sealing parties for many years, and 

 the characteristic features of the seals themselves so suit the naming, that I have frit satisfied to retain the style throughout as rendering 

 my description more intelligible, especially so to those who are engaged in the business, or may be hereafter. The Russians are more 

 consistent, but not so "pat"; they call the bull "see-catch", a term implying strength, vigor, etc.; the cow, "matkah," or mother; the 

 pups, "kotickie," or little seals: the non-breeding males under six and seven years, " holluschickie," or bachelors. The name applied 

 collectively to the fur-seal by them is " morsk ie-kot," or sea-cat. 



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