22 GKJN, KOD, AND SADDLE. . 



coast. Close to the Ocean House are some rocks, 

 and on these at all hours can be beheld numbers of 

 seals. The Legislature of the State has, I believe, 

 passed an Act for their protection, and so well does 

 Master Phocse know his safety, that I doubt if he 

 would not dispute possession of his demesne with 

 any representative of genus homo that had the te- 

 merity to intrude. The Californians are very proud 

 of these pets, and well may they be, for they form 

 a strange and most interesting picture, reclining in 

 all attitudes, young and old, big and little, free 

 from fear and happy in their security. Many of 

 them have been named from some fancied resem- 

 blance to persons. One, the king in stature, and 

 most savage and repulsive in physiognomy, bears 

 the sobriquet of Benjamin Butler, of New Orleans 

 notoriety. An old resident informed me that he 

 remembers this veteran seal for years, and that his 

 countenance was a good index of his temper. At 

 night, from the Ocean House, you can constantly 

 hear them bellowing, and old Butler's voice, from its 

 depth and volume, is easily distinguished from the 

 others. I expect that San Francisco for many years 

 to come will be the only city that possesses a pre- 

 serve of pet seals. 



