ST. FELIX AND ST. AMBROSE ISLANDS. 311 



all seasons. The sujfply here appears never to have been abundant. Delano, writing 

 in 1800, says : " These islands afford some seals of both the hair and far kind, and I 

 think a vessel might procure several thousands of the two kinds upon the whole 

 cluster of islands, as all of them afford some." '^ They were frequently visited later, 

 and Captain Panning states ^ that in 1816 he obtained there 8,000 fur seals and 2,000 

 hair seals. Oapt. Benjamin Morrell mentions taking a few fur seals at the south eud 

 of Albemarle Island in November, 1825,' and doubtless many have been taken at the 

 Galapagos since that date. Oapt. Charles W. Reed (affidavit) states that in 1872 he 

 took 3,000 fur seals at these islands, and about as many more during three subsequent 

 voyages between this date and 1880. In 1885 Captain Gaffuey (affidavit) obtained 

 1,000 fur seals there. 



ST. FELIX, ST. AMBROSE, ST. MARTS ISLANDS, ETC. 



Many of the small islands off the coast of Chile, from the Strait of Magellan north- 

 ward, were formerly inhabited by colonies of fur seals. Even before the annihilation 

 of the seal rookeries at Juan Fernandez and Mas-^-Fuero, these islands were visited 

 by sealers, from some of which they reaped rich harvests. Delano, writing in 1801, 



I believe that the sharks must have eaten the pups we saw at the time of the first visit to the island 

 in July. 



"We killed one seal which had a flipper bitten clean off, probably by a shark. In one case we 

 saw a bull seal lying on the surface of the water and a few feet under him were a number of hungry- 

 looking sharks. They did not seem inclined to attack him, but he evidently watched them closely. 



"While the sharks were not seen to touch the living seals when uninjured, they on one occasion 

 attacked a wounded one which had succeeded in getting into the water and was endeavoring to escape. 

 They were probably incited by the taste of the blood. 



" The seals were often found in caves and under the great bowlders. In ono cave to which there 

 was but a small opening I shot and dragged out three in succession, one appearing aa soon as the other 

 was taken away. Inside the cave, which could not be entered, sounds from other seals could be heard. 

 " The seals were very tame and manifested no fear. We used the rifle in killing them, whether in 

 the water or on shore. In the water we got as close as possible, which Was usually 6 or 8 feet. We 

 did not lose .any of the seals shot in the water. A few killed on shore near the edge rolled off and 

 sank in deep water before we could get to them. We killed all we could find. 



"The seals evidently do not migrate. They do not seem to have a definite rookery life, as on the 

 islands of the north. At one island we saw a number of yearlings and a score of old bulls lying about, 

 but apparently no cows. At another island a number of bulls seemed to be scouring the caves and 

 shores as if in search of cows. 



" There is not the marked difference in size between the male and female that is characteristic of 

 the northern seals. A typical bull would be about 5 feet in length. The nose seemed shorter and 

 blunter. The fur is more uniformly dark shade. The throat and belly do not show the lighter colors 

 found in the northern seals. There is little or no difference in shade between the back and under 

 parts of the body except in rare cases which show a patch of lighter brown on the flank. The fur 

 seems everywhere shorter, and is particularly short on the belly, probably because the animal spends 

 so much of its time on land. 



" We probably did not get all the seals, but there were few left. I visited the islands in 1879, at 

 which time there were more seals than in 1897. Our total catch numbered 224 skins, of which, accord- 

 ing to the examinations in the custom-house, 85 were males and 139 females. 



"In former years a great many skins were taken on the Galapagos Islands. One catch of 5,000 

 was lost through Imperfect curing. The catch of the Prosper was brought in in good condition, having 

 been dry-salted first and then kept in pickle until arrival in port, when they were again dry-salted, 



"We left the Gralapagos Islands on October 22 and reached San Francisco on December 14." 



' Voyages and Travels, p. 381. 



^Voyages, p. 410. 



^Narrative of Four Voyages, etc., 1832, p. 221, 



