122 CARNIVORES. 



years been taken in open water by British vessels cruising in Behring Sea ; and it 

 was, as already said, in regard to these that the international dispute referred to 

 above arose. The seals thus taken appear to be exclusively young males or 

 barren females, which have remained at sea during the months of May and 

 June, when the great body has gone northwards to the Prybiloffs. Well-appointed 

 schooners are engaged in this trade, and the method of procedure is thus 

 described by a correspondent of the Times. When one of these vessels is at sea, 

 " and seal are sighted, the little boats are hoisted out ; a hunter, armed with two 

 shot guns and a rifle, and two sailors to pull the boat, take their places, and the 

 hunt begins. A seal swimming on the water, or perchance sleeping, is sighted, and 

 the boat is pulled quietly toward the animal. In nine cases out of ten, the seal 

 takes alarm and dives out of sight before the boat is brought close enough to use 

 the guns with effect, and in no case does the hunter shoot unless he feels sure of 

 his quarry. The seal, when shot, at once commences to sink, and the boat has to 

 be pulled rapidly up to it, when the carcase is ' gaffed ' and hauled aboard. This 

 is repeated as long as a seal can be seen. In many instances only one or two will 

 be killed during a whole day's hunting, but at other times as many as twenty will 

 be taken. After a day's hunt the boats return to the schooner, and the seals are 

 skinned and the pelts laid in salt in the hold. This goes on from day to day during 

 the season. The seal has a chance of escaping, and the percentage killed is very 

 small. When it is considered that an extent of ocean of nearly twelve thousand 

 square miles is hunted over, the chance is slight of the seals being exterminated by 

 the fleet of fifty or so vessels engaged in the seal-hunting business. It has been 

 asserted that only a few seals out of every hundred shot are captured by the 

 hunters ; that the balance sink or escape wounded, to die later on. This is not so. 

 On the contrary, a seal hardly ever escapes when shot. Of course a few do, but 

 the percentage is small, probably not over five or six out of the hundred." Although 

 it has been asserted that the number of sea-bears in the open sea is annually 

 diminishing, this is denied by unprejudiced experts ; and it is mentioned by the 

 writer last cited that " the oldest hands in the business state that there are 

 apparently as many seals in the sea nowadays as there were many years ago. 

 There is, however, some greater difficulty experienced in capturing them. The 

 older ones have learned what a sealing boat is, and at the sound of a gun, or at 

 the approach of a boat, the wary animal is on its guard, and thus it is harder for 

 the hunter to get within range of his quarry. Yet, in spite of this fact, large 

 numbers are killed, and the business is fairly profitable." Of the two methods of 

 sealing, the shooting in the open sea is decidedly to be preferred on humanitarian 

 grounds, more especially if it be true, as asserted, that on the Prybiloffs a con- 

 siderable number of breeding female seals are killed before their cubs are old 

 enough to shift for themselves. 



THE SOUTHERN FUR-SEALS. 



In the Southern Hemisphere there are some four species of sea-bears or fur- 

 seals, all of which differ from the Northern sea-bear in their much longer, 

 narrower, and more depressed muzzles, and also in the circumstance that the flaps 



