SEAL LIFE OX THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 97 



The cod is a voracious feeder upon squid, which abound at the surface. In Alaskan 

 waters I have taken hundreds with the dip net, after attracting them with the elec- 

 tric light of the Albatross. In its frequent migrations from bank to bank the cod 

 passes over tracks of ocean where the water is of profound depth. It is a regular 

 feeder upon herring and many other fishes which school at the surface, and in 

 Alaskan waters frequently follows the fisherman's bate from the bottom to the sur- 

 face. 



As a result of my combined observations upon land and water, as hereinbefore 

 detailed, I have no hesitation in stating positively that soon after a female gives 

 birth to her young she leaves the island in quest of food, that she travels great dis- 

 tances in search of it, and that she returns to the islands heavily laden with milk. 



While hunting in the Corwin'a boat many seals were fired upon when asleep. They 

 usually sleep with their head to leeward and keep it moving uneasily from side to 

 side, but with the nose held clear of the water. A sleeping seal has his vital parts 

 pretty well submerged the nose, lower jaw, and flippers being usually held above 

 the surface, although a little more appears at times according to the condition of the 

 sea and the movements of the animal. 



One has to be very close to get a shot at the head that will kill it. Many times 

 the animal is wounded sufficiently to get out of reach of the hunter before it dies. 

 I had very little difficulty in approaching sleeping seals close enough for a fair shot, 

 but much' in killing them. Fair shots that scattered the charge all about them, hit- 

 ting the flippers, I firmly believe, and in some cases drawing plenty of blood, were 

 usually without result, until I learned to fire directly at the head/ Then the shots 

 began 'to prove fatal; but even then, unless hit in a vital part, the animals got away, 

 though bleeding freely. A.t first I blamed the ineffectual firing on the cartridges, but 

 the cartridges proved all right as soon as I learned to aim at the head and not at the 

 animal as a whole. 



I learned after some experiments that seals which dashed away apparently unin- 

 jured were usually hurt, and after following them persistently, at great labor to the 

 boat pullers, found that they were bleeding. 



I believe that the majority of sleeping seals fired at are struck. The number killed 

 at the islands with buckshot in them bears out this claim to a considerable extent. 

 I do not see how an ordinary marksman can shoot at so large a target as a seal at 

 short range with a double- barrel gun loaded with 21 buckshot without striking some 

 of the exposed portions of the animal. 



It is from the instantly killed that seals are secured; the wounded animal uses its 

 death struggle to get out of reach. What proportion of the seals reaching the 

 Pribilofs with shot in them bear to those which are fired at and escape (wounded, as 

 I state above) is not known, but I believe that fully as many perish leaving no trace, 

 as recover sufficiently to reach the islands. 



Feeding seals shot when raising their heads about the boats from curiosity are 

 more likely to be killed instantly than sleeping seals, but they sink more quickly. 

 A clear shot at the head is afforded which knocks the life completely out of them, 

 and the rest of the body being under water at the time it would seem that the 

 pressure upon the limp body forces the air from it. As a rule, seals killed instantly, 

 when the head is entirely clear of the water, go down quickly, sinking stern fore- 

 most. Sleeping seals killed when the head is low in the water float for a time, tfce 

 head settling into the water first, the air is retained in the body and it floats. I shot 

 a seal off Quadeloupe Island in May when it raised its head close to the boat, killing 

 it instantly. It sank before we could reach it with the gaff, and continued sinking, 

 stern first, as we could plainly see far below in the clear water. 



Another illustration of the wastefulness of the pelagic sealing might be found in 

 the number of cartridges expended. During the work of the Corwin no record of 

 this kind was kept. The hunter usually carried two or three dozen cartridges, 

 which were, as a rule, expended before they returned to the ship. The number of 

 seals lost by sinking, number wounded, and number secured were recorded. 



Repeated firing from the boats was often heard on board ship, and a large number 

 of empty shells would be returned, when comparatively few seals were definitely 

 reported as secured, lost, or wounded, all other shots being supposed to be misses. 

 I do not think this feature has received proper consideration. The hunters were 

 certainly average marksmen, and it is my belief that the great majority of the 

 Bleeping seals tired at were struck. The guns used were 10-bore Parkers, loaded 

 with 21 buckshot. Time after time I have seen the heavy charge strike about the 

 sleeping seal fully expecting to see it killed, when, to my utter surprise, it would 

 dive and come up beyond our reach. It is incredible that the great number of seals 

 thus escaping were uninjured. How can one always find traces of blood or signs of 

 injury when the frightened animal is retreating at a rate so rapid that it is soon out 

 of sight, and especially as its course is mainly under water and it only appears at 

 the surface with a porpoise-like leap to catch its breath and then dives again f 



C. H. TOWNSEND. 



S. Doc. 137, pt. 1 7 



