376 CALLORIIINUS URSINUS NORTHERN FUR SEAL. 



ited in between tlie muscles. Around the small and large intes- 

 tines a uaoderate quantity of bard, firm fat is found. The blub- 

 ber i^ossesses an extremely offensive, sickening odor, difficult to 

 wash from the hands. It makes, however, a very fair oil for 

 lubricating, burning, &c. 



" The flesh of the fur-seal, when carefully cleaned from fat or 

 blubber, can be cooked, and by most peoi)le eaten, who, did 

 they not know what it was, might consider it some poor, tough, 

 dry beef, rather dark in color and overdone. That of the pup, 

 however, while on the land and milk-fed, is tender and juicy but 

 insipid. 



''The skins are taken from the field to the salt-house, where 

 they are laid out open, one upon another, ' hair to fat,' like so 

 many sheets of paper, with salt profusely spread upon the fleshy 

 sides, in 'kenches' or bins. After lying a week or two salted 

 in this style they are ready for bundling and shipi)ing, two skins 

 to the bundle, the fur outside, tightly rolled up and strongly 

 corded, having an average weight of twelve, fifteen, and twenty- 

 two pounds when made uj) of two, three, and four year old skins 

 respectively. 



"The company leasing the islands are permitted by law to 

 take one hundred thousand, and no more, annually ; this they 

 do in June and July; after that season the skins rapidly grow 

 worthless by shedding, and do not pay for transportation and 

 tax. The natives are paid forty cents a skin for the catch, and 

 keep a close account of the progress of the work every day, 

 as it is all done by them, and they know mthin fifty skins, one 

 way or the other, when the whole number have been secured 

 each season. This is the only occupation of some three him- 

 dred and fifty people here, and they naturally look well after it. 

 The interest and close attention paid by these Aleuts on both 

 islands to this business was both gratifying and instructive to 

 me while stationed there." 



In regard to the preparation and value of the skin Mr. Elliott 

 states as follows : 



"The common or x)opular notioli regarding seal-skins is that 

 they are worn by those animals just as they appear when offered 

 for sale. This is a very great mistake ; few skins are less 

 attractive than the seal-skin as it is taken from the creature. 

 The fur is not visible, concealed entirely hy a coat of stiff over- 

 hair, dull gray, brown, and grizzled. The best of these raw 

 skins are worth only $5 to $10, but after dressing they bring 



