514 FAMILY PHOCHXffi. 



more than half as large as that taken by the combined sealing 

 fleet of Western Europe in the icy seas about Jan Mayen. The 

 number of skins annually taken during the six years ending 

 with 1872 is given by Schultz as follows : in 1867, 131,723 $ in 

 1868, 150,947 ; in 1869, 128,701 ; in 1870, 137,030 ; in 1871, 

 90,468; in 1872, 156,759, or a yearly average of about 130,000. 

 The species here hunted is the Plioca caspica of Mlsson, which 

 by some authors has been regarded merely as a synonym of 

 Pkoca vitulina. Its habits, however, indicate a species quite 

 distinct. It is said to be from three to six feet long, and to 

 weigh from 72 to 144 pounds. They gather in large herds on 

 the shore, where thousands are sometimes killed in a single 

 hunt. 



In 1873 M. Schultz, in his report upon fishing and seal- 

 hunting in the Caspian Sea, described in considerable detail 

 the habits and haunts of the Caspian Seal, and the methods 

 employed for its capture. He says, " The seals love the cold j 

 and, in summer, they seek the deep sea, leaving it in the au- 

 tumn for their favorite place of abode, the northeastern basin 

 of the Caspian Sea, which is the portion first covered with ice, 

 and where the ice breaks up latest. Numerous herds of seals 

 gather on pieces of floating ice, to rest or to pair. The pairing 

 season lasts from the end of December till January 10. The 

 female every year gives birth to one young, seldom to two. The 

 young have a shining white, silky fur, but after ten days it be- 

 comes coarse and turns gray. Then the tender solicitude of 

 the mother ceases, for the little one has to go into the water 

 and swim. Seals that are one year old have gray fur, speckled 

 with black spots. 



"The seal is hunted down the western coast of the Caspian 

 Sea, at the mouths of the Volga and the Ural, and in its south- 

 ern part, especially on the islands of the Gulf of Apcheron. 



"The principal meeting-places of seal-hunters are on the 

 seven islands situated north of the Peninsula of Mangyshlak, 

 called the ' Seals' Islands/ on account of the large number of 

 these animals found there. Other islands also abound in pho- 

 cse. Thus there have been years when about 40,000 seals were 

 killed on the island of Peshno'i, before the mouths of the Ural, 

 and, in 1846, 1,300 were killed in one night. 



"The seals are hunted in three diiferent ways: they are 

 killed with clubs on the islands where they gather ; or they 

 are shot with guns ; or they are caught in nets. The first-men- 

 tioned way is the grandest, and yields the best results. 



