198 THE FUR SEALS OF THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 



forget tlieir injury and come back. Most commonly wliole families live together in 

 one community, tlie male with one grown female and their tender little offspring. 

 They appear to me to be monogamous. The young are born at any time of year, but 

 most frequently in autumn, as I judged from the new-born little ones that I saw about 

 that time. From this fact, as 1 noticed that they copulated by preference in the early 

 spring, I concluded that the foetus remained more than a year in tbe womb. From 

 the shortness of the [uterine] cornua {ex cornuum brcritatc), and from the fact that 

 there are only two mamma^, I infer that they have but one calf, and I have never seen 

 more than one with the mother at a time. 



These animals are very voracious and eat incessantly, and because they are so 

 greedy they keep their heads always under water, without regard to life and safety. 

 Hence a man in a boat, or swimming naked, can move among them without danger 

 and select at ease the one of the herd he desires to strike — and accomplish it all while 

 they are feeding. When they raise their noses above the water, as they do every 

 four or five minutes, they blow out the air and a little water with a snort such as a 

 horse makes in blowing his nose. As they feed they move first one foot and then the 

 other, as cattle and sheep do when they graze, and thus with a gentle motion half 

 swim and half walk. Half of the body — the back and sides — projects above the water. 

 While they feed, the gulls are wont to perch upon their backs and to feast upon the 

 vermin that infest their skin, in the same way as crows do upon the lice of hogs and 

 sheep. The manatees do not eat all seaweeds without distinction, but especially (1) 

 Crispum lirassicae Sabaudicoc, with cancellate leaf [sea-cabbage J; (2) that which has 

 the shape of a club; (3) that which has the shape of an ancient Roman shield; (4) a 

 very long seaweed with a wavy ruffle along the stalk. Where they have stopped, even 

 for a day, great heaps of roots and stems are to be seen cast upon the shore by the 

 waves. When their svo/nachs are full some of them go to sleej) flat on their backs, 

 and go out a distance from the shore that tliey inay not be left on the dry sand when 

 the tide goes out. In winter they are often suffocated by the ice that floats about 

 the shore and are cast upon the beach dead. This also ha])i)ens when they get caught 

 among the rocks and are dashed by the waves violently upon them. In the winter 

 the animals become so thin that, besides the bones of the spine, all the libs show. 

 In the sjuing they come together in the human fashion, and es]>ecially about evening 

 in a smooth sea. But before they come together tliey practice many amorous preludes. 

 The female swims gently to and fro in the water, the male following her. The female 

 eludes him with many twists and turns until she herself, impatient of longer delay, 

 as if tired and under compulsion, throws herself upon her back, when the male, 

 rushing upon her, pays the tribute of his passion, and they rush into each other's 

 embrace. 



Their capture used to be effected with a large iron hook whose point resembled an 

 anchor's fluke. The other end was secured by a very long, stout rope to an iron ring. 

 A strong maji took this hook and entered the boat witli four or five others, ami while 

 one held the rudder three or four rowed gently toward the herd. The spearman stood 

 in the prow of the boat holding the hook in his hand, and struck as soon as he was 

 near enough. As soon as this was done, thirty inen standing on the shore with the 

 other end of the rope iu their hands held the animal, and in spite of its frantic efforts 

 at resistance they dragged him laboriously toward the shore. The boat was held steady 

 by another rope, and the men wore the animal out by constant blows, until, tired and 



