304 THE FUR SEALS OF THE PEIBILOF ISLANDS. 



account of bad weather or an approaching storm, at which times the safety of the 

 canoes and vessel is of more consequence than the determination of the character of 

 the catch. When the boats and canoes are being hoisted in, the officers and men are 

 stationed at either side of the vessel to do this work, as well as to keep the records, 

 and, as is to be expected, in the bustle and excitement a very correct account of the 

 sexes is not given In many cases the seals are not examined at all. By the time the 

 last canoe is lashed on board the weather is rough and stormy and the hunters are 

 anxious to go below ; and if it be dark the seals will be left until morning for skinning. 

 Ko further examination is made, and, right or wrong, the first account rendered is 

 accepted. The fact of the matter is that in only a few cases is the sex correctly 

 recorded. 



Inaccuracies in this respect also result when the seals are skinned in the boats. 

 Upon arrival at the vessel the skins are at once thrown into the hold without exami- 

 nation, and nobody knows or cares whether they are male or female. 



Although United States revenue cutters have the privilege of boarding vessels 

 and overhauling the catch made in Bering Sea, the conditions under which this work 

 is carried on, however zealous the officers may be, render it difficult for the sexes to be 

 separated, and they return to their ship little wiser than when they came. 



CONDITIONS OP THE FEMALE SEALS TAKEN BY THE DORA SIBWEKD. 



Of the 982 female seals secured by this vessel, 882 were opened and examined by 

 the writer. Of this number 839 were found to be adults, and 668 were clearly in milk. 

 Many of the remaining 171 may also have been nursing females, which at the time of 

 their capture had not obtained sufficient nourishment to cause their milk glands to fill. 



SEALS MADE SHY BY HUNTING. 



Inquiry was made of several captains and hunters as to whether seals were as 

 easy to capture this year as last in Bering Sea. They all give it as their judgment 

 that seals were more difficult to approach this season than in 1894. Captain Cox, of 

 the schooner Sapphire, said he had noticed a marked difference in that respect, and 

 attributed it to the hunting that had been carried on. In many cases they appeared 

 to be unusually shy when there was no apparent cause for it. 



FOOD OF SEALS. 



The material which has been found in the stomachs of seals taken in different 

 parts of Bering Sea indicates that only a small percentage is composed of fish which 

 inhabit deep water. It is only reasonable to suppose, however, that when seals are 

 in shallow water they feed both on bottom fish and on those swimming near the 

 surface. A not uncommon component of their food is the red rockflsh, which occurs 

 both in deep and shallow water and possibly also near the surface at times, which 

 would account for its being found in the stomachs of seals captured where the water 

 is 100 fathoms or more deep. 



On August 22, 1895, in latitude 55° 04' north, longitude 168o 35' west, the head 

 of a macrurus was found in the stomach of a male seal. This group of fishes inhabits 

 considerable depths, and much speculation arose as to how it had been obtained by 

 the seal. It was subsequently learned, however, that the Albatross had been dredging 

 in deep water near our position from the 18th to the 22d, and during that time there 



