THREE-ARCH ROCKS 9 



wild life of these three rocks and the waters 

 adjacent. 



But did I fully understand the Why *? Did I 

 wholly comprehend the meaning and the value of 

 such a sanctuary for wild life? I turned to the 

 warden with the question. That honest official 

 paused a moment, then slowly answered that he 'd 

 be hanged if he knew why. He did n't see any 

 good in such protection, his salary notwithstand- 

 ing. He had caught a cormorant (one from the 

 Rocks) not long since, that had forty-nine young 

 salmon in its maw ; and as for the sea-lions, they 

 were an unmitigated nuisance, each one of them 

 destroying (so it had been reckoned) five hun- 

 dred pounds of fish every day. 



Now the warden's findings are open to ques- 

 tion, because there are good reasons for the cor- 

 morant's catch being other than salmon fry ; and 

 as for the lions it is pretty certain that [during 

 their stay on the breeding-grounds (Three-Arch 

 Rocks) they do not feed at all, having come in 

 from their deep-sea wanderings with fat enough 

 to worry along with until their family cares are 

 over. A bull sea-lion with half a dozen wives has 

 his flippers full. They come in to the Rocks fat ; 



