376 ARTICLE BY DE. J. A. ALLEN. 



century, are here transcribed as of special interest in the iJieseut con- 

 nection. 



Capt. Amasa Delano, who visited Mas-a-Fiiero and the coast of Chile 

 , . p, ,-, for fur-seals about the bei;inniiij>- of the present cen- 

 by Capt. Deiauo, tury [liUb and later), has lert the Iollo^A"lng• account of 

 ^'^'■'^- their habits: " Seals in the soutliern latitudes g'o on 



shore in the months of jSTovember or December, for the purpose of bring- 

 ing forth tlieir young. They meet together at tliat time, male and fe- 

 male, and remain near the shore or on it from that time till August or 

 September, when they go off to sea altogether. When they come on 

 shore they creep up sometimes 100 or 200 rods from the water. They 

 bring forth their young and nurse them in the same manner as t\ie ca- 

 nine species do, and for several weeks after are as helpless and some- 

 tiiing similar to a young pup. The young ones are perfectly ignorant 

 of swimming until Ave or six weeks old, Avheii the dam drags them to 

 the water by the ueck and learns [sic] them to swim. . . . They 

 copulate on shore. The feiuales go eleven mouths with young, accord- 

 ing to the best calculation we were able to make. They seldom have 

 more than one and never more than two pups. Their young never 

 come on shore during the first year after they are carried off to sea." 

 (Delano, Voyages, p, 307.) 



The following, from Capt, Edward Fanning, who had a long personal 

 exi)erience as a sealer, gives some additional infornm- 

 b/crit Faunir-^'^''' ^^*^^ relating to the fur-seals of the same region as the 

 J ap . aunii„. preceding: "The clap-matches seldom have more than 

 one young at a time, although sometimes two; it is at this season par- 

 ticularly that the wigs (old males) are very savage, never hesitating to 

 fly altand attack with great spirit any i)erson who ventures to approach 

 them. They live upon fish and marine productions; stones also have 

 been found in their maws. . . . They migrate, and with the season 

 return to the shore and herd in rookeries on the rocks, and in the gul- 

 lies, returning to the water again when the season is over; at this 

 time the animal is very lean, so much so that the skin has become very 

 loose about it; notliing more after, this is seen of them until the fol- 

 lowing season, when they are to be observed coming up again to the 

 shore exceeding i)lump and well filled; where tlu'y retire to to get so 

 fat is something 1 ne^■er could nnderstand; it is also true that they 

 have been met. at sea shortly before going (m shore in large shoals 

 swimming through the water towards their haunts, much like a shoal 

 of herring-hogs, or por])oises. In calm weather and a smooth sea 

 they have been seen floating ah)ng, hundreds together, and aslee]), 

 with but the nose and two of their flippers sticking up out of water, 

 ■which at a distance api)ears like the trunk of a tree with its roots 

 afloat; when cauglit thus asleep they can easily be taken by the har- 

 poon or S])ear, by ap])roaching them silently." (Fanning, Voyages, 

 pp. 3oG, 35S.) 



Capt. Benjann'n Morrell, in his "Narrative of Four Voyages to the 

 . * r , , * South Sea," etc., during the vears 1821 to 1831, mainly 



Account ot l!nl)its, ,. , , ' ' . f V x- ^ v / 



!)>• Capt. Moni'ii, lor tlic capture of seals, makes frequent reference to 

 1821-18J1. their habits, from which the following, relating more 



especially to the fur-seals of Staten Land, is taken: "These am])hibi- 

 ous animals como on shore in the month of jSTovember to bring forth and 

 nurse their young . . . where they remain until May. They often 

 form their rookeries 100 to 200 yards from the water, Tliey bring forth 

 and nurse their young as the canine species do, and for two weeks after 

 their birth the young ones are as helifless as canine pups of the same 



