THE BULL FUR SEAL. 



349 



equal number of " idle " bulls, or bulls 

 which could not secure harems, and be- 

 tween these and their more fortunate neigh- 

 bors, in the month of July, there was con- 

 stant battle. 



The bull fur seal weighs about 400 

 pounds, and duels between pairs of these 

 animals, some of them to the death, were 

 of hourly occurrence on the rookery 

 grounds. The " cows," as they are called, 

 weigh only about 75 pounds and as a result 

 they are handled about in the mouths of 

 their masters as kittens are by cats, but 

 with a cruel harshness which at times is 

 fatal. 



The bulls arrive at the islands early in 

 May. The cows begin to arrive about a 

 month later and continue to come in gradu- 

 ally during June and July. The breeding 

 season proper is over by the first of Au- 



gust. During the first period of waiting 

 the bulls rest and defend their positions. 

 With the close of the season the harem 

 masters withdraw gaunt, lean and hungry 

 to the sea to seek the feeding banks. From 

 the time of his arrival in May. until the 

 season is over at the close of July, the bull 

 fur seal takes neither food nor drink and 

 cannot leave his post. He subsists on the 

 immense store of blubber with which he is 

 blanketed on his arrival. During the rest 

 of the summer he comes and goes from 

 and to the sea, sleeping on the sand beaches, 

 while on shore, in good fellowship with the 

 companions he has fought so valiantly 

 earlier in the season. With the approach of 

 the winter storms in November, he leaves 

 the islands to spend the winter in the North 

 Pacific Ocean, South of the Aleutian Isl- 

 ands. 



PAY DIRT. 



Dawson, Y. T., January 18, 1899. 

 Editor Recreation: April, May, June 

 and August Recreation have just reached 

 me. Several weekly papers have been 

 mailed since February 15, '98, but few 

 copies come through. It took nearly 3 

 months to find my Recreations among 

 the pile in the post-office here. No letter 

 mail in 3 months. Recreation with all of 

 its interesting stories, pictures and ads has 

 been devoured, and the miners everywhere 

 hereabouts are reading them and passing 

 the gems along. Even though only one in 

 half a dozen reaches me let them come. 

 No other sportsman's journal can compare 

 with Recreation. 



AMATEUR PHOTO BY GEO. G. CA.NTWELL. 



TWO OF CAPT. CRAWFORD'S PROSPECTORS 

 EN ROUTE TO CAMP COQUINA, ON THE 

 HOOTALINQUA RIVER. 



I wish I could write you that I had 

 punctured a moose; but not I. Indeed I 

 have not had a day's hunt, and with the 

 thermometer at 40 to 58 below, am not in it. 

 Many moose have been killed and the town 

 is full of meat and elegant heads and horns. 



My discovery of platinum in paying 

 quantities, on our property, is considered 

 valuable, not alone to our company, but to 

 the Dominion Government and all our peo- 

 ple. I am expecting orders to go to Wash- 

 ington if we get a mail in '99. 



There are too many people in this coun- 

 try — especially of the tenderfoot order. 

 Many of them are sick and helpless. The 

 hospital is full. Many are sawing wood for 

 their grub. The necessaries of life sell at 

 300 to 500 per cent, more than cost, in many 

 instances, and the poor fellows have ex- 

 pended all their money. Men should stay 

 away from this country unless well supplied 

 with provisions and $500 to $1,000 in money. 

 The country is all right but it takes time 

 and hard work to develop. Over 20 men 

 are sick at the hospital for each of whose 

 board the relief committee pays $5 a day. 

 Captain Jack Crawford. 



AN INVITATION. 



W. C. KEPLER. 



Ye busy toilers of the towns 

 Who breathe all day the dusty air, 



And with pale cheeks at weary task 

 Work on with such laborious care; 



Do ye not long for clover fields — 

 The song of birds, the hum of bees? 



The murmur of the river's tide — 

 The cooling shade of forest trees? 



Then lay aside thy weary task. 



And learn to know how it doth feel. 

 To whip a stream with supple rod. 



And hear the singing of a reel! 



