FUR SEALS OF GUADALUPE, GALAPAGOS, AND LOBOS ISLANLS. 



267 



Guadalupe Island is thoroughly volcanic and has volcanic caves and holes along 

 nearly every paile of its shore line, which were the favorite resorts of fur seals. Seal 

 hunters finding them tightly packed in these places, killed them with guns and clubs. 

 Frequently they were killed in caves so dark that their eyes were the only target to 

 fire at, while at other times candles were used to disclose their hiding places. Young 

 and old alike were taken. The young appear to have been brought forth in June and 

 July and the species was present upon the island throughout the year. Its fur was 

 worth about half that of the Northern far seal, as taken on the Pribilof Islands, being 

 worth about $15. 



At the northwest side of Guadalupe, on May 23, 1892, we found " Sea Elephant" 

 beach, a locality formerly frequented by elephant seals. This is one of the three 

 sand beaches on the island. The others are at Jacks Bay, a few miles farther south, 

 and at the village on the opposite side. At "Sea Elephant" beach we found 6 sea 

 elephants sleeping near high water mark, which we shot. They were very slow in 

 their motions and made scarcely any effort to get away. While we were skinning 

 these, 2 others hauled out where we were working. The sriiallest of these we added 

 to our collection, the larger one was not mo- 

 lested. It came and went several times during 

 the afternoon and we frequently had our hands 

 on it without its assuming any threatening atti- 

 tudes. With the proper facilities it could have 

 been taken alive. 



In the meantime a heavy surf made it im- 

 possible to launch the boat, while the lofty cliffs 

 not only prevented our ascent to the plateau of 

 the island, but, extending into the sea on either 

 side, imprisoned us on the beach, where we 

 were without water or food. After repeated 

 attempts we made our escape to the schooner 

 late in the evening, without having been able 

 to take any of the heavy elephant skins in our 

 small boat. On the following day we recovered three of our prizes with great exer- 

 tions anxi danger and were finally compelled to abandon the rest. The species brought 

 back represent about the last of this exceedingly rare species. Captain Wentworth, 

 of San Diego, counted 80 sea elephants upon this beach in 1883. We found nothing 

 in the stomachs of those killed by us but small quantities of sand — a pint or more to 

 each animal. The large animals were shedding their short, stiff hair at this season — 

 May. The proboscis of the elephant seal is imperfectly represented in all figures of 

 the species that I have seen. It is not rounded like that of the elephant or tapir, 

 but flattened above and below, and in the largest male specimen we obtained is 8 

 inches long. It hangs downward as a flap, about 4 inches broad and 2 inches thick, 

 entirely concealing the mouth, the nostrils being at the corners of its nearly square 

 tip. It is very soft and flexible and in life is kept in constant motion, the usual 

 position being a forward and downward curve. It is frequently turned upward, the 

 animal in the meantime opening and shutting its mouth without any sound. In 

 crawling, the belly alone is lifted from the ground as the animal hitches itself along. 



About 30 sea lions (Zalophus) were seen at the time of our visit on one of the 

 southerly outlying rocks of Guadalupe Island. 



Fig. 1. — Nose of elephant seal from beneath. 



