370 ARTICLE BY DH. J. A. ALLEN. 



at Aiiiiik rsliiud and I'oiiit jMollor, oii the. iiortlunii shore of tbe Alaskan 

 peninsula." (INlaiiue Maiiinialia, p. LSO.) hi ISGS the I'acilic walius 

 began to attract tlie (•ui)idity of the whalers, an<l during the following 

 live years it is estimated that they destroyed (i(>,OU() in Bering Sea and 

 the Arctic Ocean for their oil and tusks. " Jietween the years 1870 and 

 1880 there were brought to market 1,1)'J(>,(H)() gallons of oil and 31)8,868 

 X)Ounds of Walrus ivory, these amounts re[)resenting the destruction of 

 not far from 100,000 animals." (Frederic A. Lucas, Itcport U. S. Na- 

 tional Museum, 1888-'89, ]>. 620.) 



" if the whalers reach Bering Strait before the ice breaks up they 



remain on the coast and often huiit the walrus for 



H.mtingiho Walrus, ^^^^j^^ together, witli Startling and serious results. 



Last year's campaign was considered successful, as about 11,000 wal- 

 ruses were secured, most of them within the Arctic Sea. But to attain 

 this resultbetween 30,000 ami 40,(t00 animals Avere killed, 

 AVastefui killing. ^^^ ^^^.^^ ^^^j^ ouethird of the number destroyed were 



actually utilized. There can be no doubt as to the ultimate conse- 

 f[nences of such glaring improvidence, but last year they were so i^ain- 

 fnlly apparent as to touch even the hard hearts of those who occasioned 

 them. jSTot that the whalers were moved to compassion by the victims 

 themselves, but by the sufferings of the human beings who were de- 

 prived of their chief source of subsistence. The hardy 

 fowr'^ ^^°''*'^''^ ""^ tribes in the neighborhood of Bering Strait literally 

 can not exist without the walrus, and so long as they 

 Avere its only human enemies the number destroyed was inconsiderable. 

 But the herds soon dwindled under the superior weapons and appli- 

 ances of civilized nations and the survivors retreated, like the Avhales, 

 toAvards the pole. By the end of last season not a single Avalrus was 

 ^ . left on the coast, and the immediate result Avas such a 



Paniine among iia- ,.,,,..' ,, , . .1.1 v .1 i i 



tives caused by de- tcmble lamiue auioug the natives that the Avhalers 

 structiou of Walius. thcmsclves spcak of it remorsefully. The population 

 south of St. Lawrence Bay has been reduced one-third, and in a village 

 which formerly counted two hundred inhabitants only one man sur- 

 vived. Several of the Avhalers have consequently refused to take any 

 part in future Avalrus hunts on the coast. They assert that for every 

 hundred animals killed a native family must perish by starvation, and 

 they Avill not incur so heavy a responsibility." (London Field, March 

 28, 1880, p. 381. See also Allen, North American Pinnipeds, XH^* "^^^j 

 709.) 



Family OTARIID^S. 



EARED SEALS. 



The eared-seals may be distinguished externally by the possession 

 of small, luirrow, pointed, external ears, a slender form, lengthened 

 neck, and hind limbs capable of being turned forward and used in ter- 

 restrial locomotion. They also dift'er from the Avalruses on the one 

 hand and the seals proper on the other in important cranial and skel- 

 eton characters. 

 The eared-seals are confined mainly to the islands and coasts of the 

 ,, „ , ^ „ southern oceans and the North I'acitic. None oocur 



Conflnod to south- . ,, . , , , . ,, ,. ,, ,, . , . ,, ,, , .. ,, 



orn oceunsaiidNoiUi 111 tlic Atlantic uortli ot the thirtieth parallel of south 

 ■^''^'''''- latitinle. They are polygamous, and resort to the land 



Hiibits of Eared to brccd, Avhcrc they s]>end almost, continuously about 

 ^''"'^- one-third of the year. I )uring the breeding season the 



old males gather about them a considerable number of females, which 



