CHAPTER X. 



AMPHIBIAN MILLIONS. 



Difference between a Hair-seal and a Fnr-seal. — The Fur-seal the most Intelli- 

 gent of all Amphibians. — Its singularly Free Progression on Land. — Its 

 Power in the Water. — The Old Males the First Arrivals in the Spring. — 

 Their Desperate Battles one with Another for Position on the Breeding 

 Grounds. — Subsequent Arrival of the Females. — Followed by the " Bach- 

 elors." — Wonderful Strength and Desperate Courage of the Old Males. — 

 Indifference of the Females. — Noise of the Rookeries Sounds like the Roar 

 of Niagara. — Old Males fast from May to August, inclusive ; neither Eat 

 nor Drink, nor Leave their Stations in all that Time.— Graceful Females. — 

 Frolicsome "Pups." — They have to Learn to Swim! — How they Learn. — 

 Astonishing Vitality of the Fur-seal. — "Podding" of the Pups. — Beauti- 

 ful Eyes of the Fur-seal. — How the " Holluschickie," or Bachelor Seals, 

 Pass the Time. — They are the only ones Killed for Fur. — They Herd alone 

 by Themselves in spite of their Inclination; Obliged to. — They are the 

 Champion Swimmers of the Sea. — A Review of the Vast Breeding Rook- 

 eries. — Natives Gathering a Drove. — Driving the Seals to the Slaughtering 

 Fields. — No Chasing — no Hunting of Seals. — The Killing Gang at Work: 

 Skinning, Salting, and Shipping the Pelts. — All Sent Direct to London. — 

 Reasons Why. — How the Skins are Prepared for Sacks, Muffs, etc. 



" The web-footed seals forsake the stormy swell. 

 And, sleeping in herds, exhale nauseous smell. "^ — Homer. 



A VIVID realism of the fact that often truth is far stranger than fic- 

 tion is strikingly illustrated in the life-history of the fur-seal : as it is 

 the one overshadowing and suj)erlatively interesting subject of this 

 discussion, I shall present all its multitudinous details, even at the 

 risk of being thought tedious. That aggregate of animal life 

 shadowed every summer out upon the breeding grounds of the 

 Seal Islands is so vast, so anomalous, so interesting, and so valu- 

 able, that it deserves the fullest mention ; and even when I shall 

 have done, it will be but feebly expressed. 



