310 THE FUR SEALS OF THE PRIBILOP ISLANDS. 



bnt in these Seas. Here are always thousands, I might say possibly millions of them, either sitting 

 on the Bays, or going and coming in the Sea round the Island; Tvhich is covered with them (as they 

 Ij^e at the top of the Water playing and sunning themselves) for a mile or more from the shore. When 

 they come out of the Sea they bleat like Sheep for their young; and though they pass through 

 hundreds of others' young ones before they come to their own, yet they will not suffer any of them to 

 suck. The young ones are like Puppies and lie much ashore; but when beaten by any of us, they, as 

 well as the old ones, will make toward the Sea, and swim very swift and nimble ; tho on shore they 

 lie very sluggishly, and will not go out of our way unless we beat them, but snap at us. A blow on 

 the nose soon kills them. Large ships might here load themselves with Seal Skins and Trayne Oyl, 

 for they are extraordinary fat.' 



Seal liunting begun at Juan Fernandez at the same time as Mas-4-Fuero, the two 

 islands being but a few miles apart and the fur seals frequenting them belonging to 

 the same herd. Owing to the early settlement of this island (it had a population of 

 3,000, according to Delano, in the year 1800) the seals probably found the island an 

 uncongenial resort almost before the sealing business fairly liegan, as Delano, writing 

 in 1800, says there were not then any seals on any part of it.^ Subsequently the 

 island appears to have been visited at intervals by sealers in search of fur seals, but 

 always with poor success. Although not yet extinct there (see aflidavit of Capt. 

 Frank M. (xatt'ney, who reports seeing a few fur seals there in December, 1891), the 

 number left is too small to possess any commercial importance. 



GALAPAGOS ISLANDS.^ 



The Galapagos Islands, situated under the equator, about 600 miles west of 

 Ecuador, are the home of fur seals, which probably belong to a ditterent species from 

 that formerly so abundant farther south. The Galapagos seals reside at the islands 

 throughout the year. They are said to breed in caves and to bring forth their young at 



I A New Voyage Round the World, etc., 1697, pp. 89, 90. 



■' Voyages and Travels, etc., 1817, p. .31,3. 



" The following facts regarding the cruise of the schooner Prosper during the summer of 1897 to 

 the Galiipagos Islands were obtained by Mr. George A. Clark, secretary of the Fur Se.il Conunission, 

 in a recent interview with the captain of the vessel, William L. Noyes. 



The capt.iin s.aid: " Tho group of islands, known as the (ialapagos, from ci^rtain interesting turtles 

 found there, lie under the equator and in the region of the ninetieth degree of west longitude. They 

 are 600 miles off" the shores of Ecu.ador, to which they belong, and were uninli.ibiled until .a penal 

 colony, now .abandoned, was planted there. The climate is tempered by the cool currents of the ocean. 

 The shores are broken .and precipitous, marked by cliff's. Parts of the surface reach an elevation of 

 3,000 .and 4,000 feet. Ther>i are five islands of considerable si/.o in the group and ten small ones. 



"I sailed from San Francisco May 9, 1897, in the schooner Prosper, a vessel of 23 tons register, owned 

 by George W. Kne.ass & Co., of San Francisco, and carrying a crew of five men. We arriv(^d .at Wen- 

 man Island, one of the Galapagos group, lying in l'^ 20' north latitude, .Inly 17, and, landing, found 

 se.als with their young .already born. The breeding grounds occupied by the se.als were rough bowhh^r 

 beaches. The animals did not haul inland to any groat (extent, and were not found upon the sandy 

 beaches. The seals were not very numerous. In th(i hope that more seals would appear later and in 

 order to let the pups grow, we left Wenman Island and sailed to the south of the equator. 



"On a certain isl.and in .S' south we found more se.als, and ,a number were killed which contained 

 unborn pnps. This we found to be characteristic of the seals south of the e(|nator. Some killed -as 

 late as September were still bearing, and, I should judge, would not be delivered until srmie time in 

 October or November. 



" In October we returned to Wenma.n Island, finding and taking .a few se.als, but none of the pnps 

 we left in .Inly. On another island I saw a single pup alone swimming in .a little pool. 



"The waters about the island were infested by sh.arks of the man-eating type. One of these we 

 killed while at anchor beside the vessel. Its stomach contained the ilesli and lioiies of ;m .adult seal. 



