262 EUMETOPIAS STELLERI STELLER's SEA LION. 



duced] a small point, near tlie head of the northeast neck of 

 the island, will be seen, upon which quite a large number of 

 sea-lions are always to be found, as it is never disturbed except 

 on the occasion of this annual driving. The natives step down 

 on to the beach, in the little bight just above it, and begin to 

 crawl on all fours flat on the sand down to the end of the neck 

 and in between the dozing sea-lion herd and the water, always 

 selecting a semi-bright moonlight night. If the wind is favor- 

 able, and none of the men meet with an accident, the natives^ 

 will almost always succeed in reaching the i)oint unobserved, 

 when, at a given signal, they all jump up on their feet at once, 

 yell, brandish their arms, and give a sudden start, or alarm, to 

 the herd above them, for, just as the sea-lions move, upon the 

 first impulse of surprise, so they keep on. For instance, if the 

 animals on starting up are sleeping with their heads pointed in 

 the direction of the water, they keep straight on toward it ; but 

 if they jump up looking over the land, they follow that course 

 just as desperately, and nothing turns them, at first, either one 

 way or the other. Those that go for the water are, of course, 

 lost, but the natives follow the land-leaders and keep urging 

 them on, and soon have them in their control, driving them 

 back into a small pen, which they extemporize by means of 

 little stakes, with flags, set around a circuit of a few hundred 

 square feet, and where they keep them until three or four hun- 

 dred, at least, are captured, before they commence their drive 

 of ten miles overland dow'n south to the village. 



"The natives, latterlj', in getting this annual herd of sea- 

 lions, have postponed it until late in the fall, and when the ani- 

 mals are scant in number and the old bulls jDoor. This they 

 were obliged to do, on account of the j^ressure of their sealiug- 

 business in the spring, and the warmth of the season in August 

 and September, which makes the driving very tedious. In this 

 way I have not been permitted to behold the best-conditioned 

 dsives, i. c, those in which a majority of the herd is made up 

 of fine, enormously fat, and heavy bulls, some four or five hun- 

 dred in number. 



"The natives are compelled to go to the northeast point of 

 the island for these animals, inasmuch as it is the only place 

 with natural advantages where they can be ajDproached for the 

 purpose of capturing alive. Here they congregate in greatest 

 number, although they can be found, two or three thousand of 

 them, on the southwest point, and as many more on ' See- 

 vitchie Cammin ' and Otter Island. 



