THE SEA-LION 293 



"The sailors," he tells us, "get between the herd 

 and the water ; then raising all possible noise by shout- 

 ing, and at the same time flourishing clubs, guns, and 

 lances, the party advances slowly tow^ard the rookery, 

 when the animals will retreat, appearing in a state of 

 great alarm. Occasionally an overgrown male will give 

 battle, or attempt to escape, but a musket-ball through the 

 brain despatches it, or some one checks its progress by 

 thrusting a lance into the roof of its mouth, which causes 

 it to settle on its haunches, when two men with heavy 

 ashen clubs give the creature repeated blows about the 

 head till it is stunned or killed. After securing those that 

 are disposed to show resistance, the party rush to the main 

 body. The onslaught creates such a panic among these 

 peculiar creatures, that, losing all control of their actions, 

 they climb, roll and tumble over each other, when 

 prevented from further retreat by the projecting cliffs. 

 We recollect in one instance, where sixty-five were 

 captured, that several were found showing no signs of 

 having been either clubbed or lanced, but were smothered 

 by numbers of their kind heaped upon them. The 

 whole flock, when attacked, manifest alarm by their 

 peculiar roar, the sound of which, among the largest 

 males, is nearly as loud as the lowing of an ox, but more 

 prolonged in one strain, and accompanied by a rattling 

 noise in the throat. The quantity of blood in this 

 species of the seal tribe is supposed to be double that 

 contained in an ox, in proportion to its size. 



" After capture the flaying begins. First, with a 

 large knife the skin is ripped along the upper side of the 

 body the whole length, and then cut down as far as 

 practicable, without rolling it over. Then the coating 

 of fat that lies between the skin and flesh — which may 

 be from one to seven inches in thickness, according to 

 the size and condition of the animal — is cut into " horse- 

 pieces," about eight inches wide, and twelve to fifteen 

 long, and a puncture is made in each piece sufficiently 

 large to pass a rope through. After cleansing the upper 

 portion of the body, it is rolled over, and cut all around 

 as above described. Then the ' horse pieces ' are strung 

 on a rafter-rope and taken to the edge of the surf ; a 



