EARED SEALS. 



117 



The northern sea-bear inhabits both shores of the Northern 

 Distribution. . 



Pacific, and is known to have been formerly abundant on the American 



side as far south as California, although the precise limits to which it once ranged 



in this direction have not been ascertained. On the Asiatic side of the Pacific its 



range embraced Kamschatka and the Kurile Islands, and extended as far as the 



southern extremity of Saghalien Island, where it was still abundant at the period 



of the Crimean war. 



At the present day, as is well known, the headquarters of the sea-bear are the 

 PrybilofT Group, which comprises four islands, respectively known as St. Paul's, 

 St. George's, Otter, and Walrus Islands ; the two former of which are alone visited 

 by the seals. Here the capture of the seals is strictly regulated, only a certain 

 number being allowed to be captured annually. The Alaska Commercial Company 

 leased from the United States Government in 1869 the sole right of sealing on 

 these islands ; the lease permitting them to capture 25,000 seals on St. George's and 

 75,000 on St. Paul's. And it appears that in the twenty years, from 1869 to 1889, 

 the company has realised upwards of thirty-three millions of dollars by the sale of 

 seal-skins. Of recent years large numbers of British vessels fitted out from 

 Victoria and British Columbia have, however, been in the habit of visiting Behring 

 Sea for the purpose of taking seals ; and it is stated that in consequence of this the 

 profits of the Alaska Company have considerably diminished. In the recent dispute 

 between the British and United States Governments regarding this sealing in 

 Behring Sea the United States declared that the sea in question was a mare 

 clausum, a claim which the British Government successfully resisted. 



Besides St. George's and St. Paul's, no other islands in Behring Sea appear to 

 form suitable habitats for the sea-bears, which require a low, shelving coast, either 

 of smooth rocky ledges or of shingle, with a cold climate and a fog-laden atmo- 

 sphere. If the ground is such that water can collect in puddles, the seals avoid it, 

 and if the coast is sandy the wind blows the sand into their large, sensitive eyes, 

 causing them intolerable discomfort. The number of sea-bears on these two islands 

 during the breeding-season is so enormous as to defy anything like exact calcula- 

 tion. In the summer of 1872 Mr. Elliot estimated, however, that there were 

 upwards of 3,000,000 on St. Paul's, while in the following year he put down the 

 number on St. George's at about 163,000. 



It is mainly to Mr. Elliot that we are indebted for a full and 

 Habits. J 



adequate account of the habits of the sea-bears on the Prybiloffs, 



and it is from his graphic descriptions that the following summary is derived. 



During the winter the Prybiloffs are deserted by these animals, which follow 



the southward migration of the fish upon which they chiefly subsist. The old 



males are the first to revisit their old haunts in the following spring ; and a few of 



these may generally be found on the islands during the first week in May. At 



this time the males are very shy and sensitive, and remain near the shore ; indeed, 



many of them will sometimes spend several days in swimming round the rocks 



before venturing to land. The first arrivals are not always the oldest, but rather 



the finest specimens of their race ; and are always fully capable of maintaining 



possession of the stations they select immediately after coming ashore. As a rule, 



it appears that the males do not reoccupy the same stations year after year, although 



