706 THE CARNIVORES 



pounds. They do not attain their full size till about the sixth year. The females, 

 which reach their full dimensions when five years old, measure four feet in length 

 and two and one-half feet in girth, and weigh from 80 to 100 pounds. The ears 

 are absolutely longer than in the far larger northern sea-lion. The difference in the 

 dimensions of the two sexes is greater than in any other member of the family. 



The northern sea-bear inhabits both shores of the Northern 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 Kamchatka and the Kurile islands, and extended as far as the south- 

 ern 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 

 Pribilof 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 realized upward of thirty-three millions of dollars by the sale of 

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

 toria 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. 



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 atmos- 

 phere. 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 up- 

 ward 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 

 adequate account of the habits of the sea-bears on the Pribilofs, and 

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



During the winter the Pribilofs 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 



