104 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Aug. 10, 1901. 
tackle while being drawn on board from the end of a 
tow line. Its length was only 14 feet 9 inches, with a 
girth of 10 feet 10 inches about the pectoral girdle. From 
shoulder to shoulder it measured 5 feet 6 inches. The 
circumference at the base of the flippers was 3 feet 6 
inches. 
To the great bulk there was a mouth, with a breadth, at 
the angle, of 9 inches only, and a tongue (which we found 
later to be excellent eating) quite filled it. Dr. Stirling 
has this specimen mounted in the South Australian Mu- 
seum. While the blubber ranges from 2 to 6 inches in 
depth, it varies in weight. Six men were employed in 
changing the position of one fatty skin while on the 
skinning board. This is a fair example of a male, which 
is always larger than the female. The congregation in 
harbors was generally systematic. The bulls occupied one 
part of the beach, and the cows formed a colony in an- 
other. There were always several colonies in a harbor, 
and they seldom appeared to intermingle. The young 
were not numerous. They had probably set out on their 
southerly migration before our arrival on Dec. 27, or 
were scattered promiscuously along the beaches. 
It is the general impression that these mammals lie in 
their rookeries for days or weeks together, and do not 
feed otherwise than on their fatty tissue. With this view 
I do not altogether agree, for most of the seals are daily 
to be seen in the water, either coming in with the full 
flood, or going out with the early part of an ebb tide. 
That a young sea elephant 6 feet in length can live a 
month on its own fat was proved by one we brought to 
Melbourne, and which was lodged in the aquarium, but 
died a few months later. 
One day as many as eighty may be counted; the next 
day the same beach may only contain ten, with other 
heads poking above the floating weed, and showing glassy 
round black eyes quite wide awake. Our men have often 
shot as many as sixty at one time, and found next day 
another twenty had come up among the dead, simply be- 
cause it was their chosen lair. This species dislike ex- 
pending energy on land, and they will lie in a group of 
twenty to sixty in some grassy spot with a sandy landing. 
Some few will ascend to an inclined distance of 150 yards, 
.and there they are not so active as those below, and 
probably do not go out daily. The energy would be too 
much for them, as they are slow crawlers, using only two 
flippers, and the snake-like action of vertebrae and muscles. 
The first anchorage of the brig was at Royal Sound, and 
before we removed from a beach of four miles in extent 
we had collected 426 skins. Our two anchors were lifted 
for a second harbor on Jan. 17 (Greenland Harbor). 
During the first day sixty to seventy were killed, and 
similar results often followed. To shoot more at one 
time was inadvisable. An average of forty per day was 
considered good, and this allowed time to ship and 
"speck" — i. e., take the blubber from the skin. 
The finest herd we visited just before leaving the 
island. In all there were twenty-four magnificent ani- 
mals, roughly averaging 19 feet in length. For the first 
tifne, in Q04 seals, I saw the rugged ^ose pf "Anson's 
plate," figured in Moseley's "Challenger Notes" (p. 201). 
The plate of Leseur, reproduced on p. 202 of the same 
work, does not quite agree with the animals noticed by 
us in respect to the eyebrow bristles. The "elephants" 
here have no conspicuous eyebrow, but rather have the 
cheek hairs more developed than this plate exhibits. Be- 
fore introducing ourselves, I noticed one great "elephant" 
take a short cut over another, and a quarrel arose. Both 
growled and stood partly supported by their shoulder 
flippers. Another disagreement arose elsewhere, but it 
seemed to me there was more bark than bite, as animosity 
was quickly lost in sleep. One unfortunate animal had a 
badly torn nose, in all probability a dental evidence of 
past troubles. One of the crew gave me a tooth some 7 
inches in length, the greater portion of which lies withm 
the gum (e. g. 4.9 inches). When disturbed the belchmg 
of each of these old bulls was objectionably strong, for it 
can scarcely be called a roar. So great is the exertion 
that blood appears in the pharynx, and this occurred when 
1 was engaged near its head, measuring the trough in 
which it lay". This lair along the convex part was 32 feet 
in length, the breadth 7 feet, tapering toward each end. 
The depth of these, mostly dry mud holes placed among 
the grasses, ranges to about 2 feet, seldom deeper; but 
they were placed in natural depressions — ^i. e., extra to 
the artificial ones. Many of the troughs are continuous, 
and intersect each other, so that a large lair may appear 
netted, which^is uncommon.* This place soon showed an 
unfortunate change. Rifles were presented within 6 feet 
of each bull, and the bullet sped through the brain box, 
partly flattening on the blubber of the opposite side. Now 
slits with sharp knives are run dorsal ly in the long direc- 
tion, and out rushed venous-like blood to stain the little 
bay in a few minutes. From one seal some sixty foun- 
tains of blood rose in oblique directions to a height of 
2 feet, and all from the single cut on the back. Against 
the sky line this miniature double line of fountains looked 
strange, and the spray of a city corporation water van is 
not to be compared to its delicate and colored sprayings. 
In the viscera I was surprised at the length of the small 
intestine, which I found to be 255 feet in length, and 
capable of rough haulage. It stood the pulling over the 
grass from the carcass with only a small distension. 
The method of procuring "elephants" is a simple, though 
not an easy one. Three boats, each with a crew of five 
men, row from the anchorage to the shore, haul up their 
boats, prospect the field, and, with four loaded rifles, drive 
the animals down to within a few yards of high-water 
mark, and shoot them. There they lie for the coming of 
the tide, and get anchored temporarily in a few feet of 
water. Some of the seals give considerable trouble before 
they will leave the high lands (100 yards from the beach on 
a medium incline), and as many as three hours may be 
spent in annoying them with the lance before they decide 
to go. If the seals carry their own skins down it saves 
much labor and time of the men. The boating is quite 
enough trouble to bear, as the harbor winds are treacher- 
ous and strong ; so powerful are they that I have observed 
half the body of a "waterfall" blown back many yards 
before it could leave the ledge where gravity was strong- 
est. Should a gale prohibit the boats leaving the ship, the 
*In one trough there are very often two hulls or two cows, tlie 
broad part of one and the taperingf part of another at one end, and 
the corresponding parts toward the opposite pole. This insures 
the trough being well filled. 
crew will sleep in during the day, and with the lull to- 
ward midnight leave for the scene of operations. Many 
a time they have had to row miles against a tempest to 
save being out all night, and many hours it has taken. 
Under such conditions boats have been swamped, the 
skins floated overboard, and a landing arranged for fresh 
efforts. I shall not be likely to forget one intensely cold 
night while going on board with my birds and cameras. 
The helmsman got a renewed attack of tropical fever, and. 
almost collapsing, I was given charge of the helm. For 
three hours mittens and oilskins seemed like a miserable 
calico, and then I fully sympathized with the men who had 
their Wellingtons partly filled with icy water. 
Daily the boats wend their way in much the same man- 
ner, and in exactly the same way the skins are taken from 
the bodies. Roughly speaking, each skillful man can skin 
the smaller seals — ten in two hours and a half, or fifteen 
minutes for each. This time is for animals which are not 
too large for a man to handle. The carcasses in our takings 
were generally of large size. The following is a case of 
quick work: After a i o'clock dinner ( of _ plum duff) 
the boats were rowed three miles. Seventy-two seals were 
killed, and all but fourteen skinned. Twenty-three of the 
largest were taken on board, and the last was upon the 
windlass at 9 :30 P. M. Two skins of fair size are enough 
for a small boat, or one of a large bull. The last trip 
content with their last resting place. In this manner they 
would ascend the ravines or 'low downs,' half a mile or 
more, congregating by hundreds. They are not so active 
on land as the seals, but when excited to inordinate exer- 
tion, their motions are quick, the whole body quivering 
with their crawling, semi-vaulting gait, and the animal, at 
such times, manifesting great fatigue. Notwithstanding 
their unwieldiness, we have sometimes found them on 
broken, elevated ground, 50 or 60 feet above the sea. 
"The principal seasons of their going on shore are when 
about to shed their coats, when the females bring forth 
their young (which is one at a time, rarely two), and the 
mating season. These seasons for 'hauling up' are more 
marked in southern latitudes. The different periods are 
known among the hunters as the 'pupping cow,' 'brown 
cow,' 'bull and cow' and the 'March bull' seasons, but on 
the California coast — either from the influence of climate 
or from some other cause — we have noticed young pups 
with their mothers at quite the opposite months. The 
continual hunting of the animals may possibly have driven 
them to irregularities. The time of gestation is supposed 
to be about three-quarters of the year. The most marked 
.season we could discover was that of the adult males, 
which shed their coats later than the younger ones and 
the females ; still, among the herd of the largest of those 
fully matured (at Santa Barbara Island in June, 1852), we 
THE SEA ELEPHANT. 
in the above raid took two hours and a half in rowing 
three miles; this wasted time and much more was spent in 
endeavoring to get round* a certain point. We agreed 
without a dissenting voice to call this headland Cape Horn 
of Royal Sound. 
This uncharitable point is the type of many another. 
To leave a harbor for a second one is the event most 
trying to the constitution, for one never knows until the 
anchor is safely dropped where the howling wind will 
drive you. Altogether we tried six harbors, of which 
four were well worked. The fifth (Swain's Bay) took us 
three days to enter, and, after being ten minutes inside 
trying to get up the channel, our clever captain put his 
ship about, and thanked his lucky stars he had got safely 
out of the treacherous "hole." Down this fjord the wind 
without notice struck the foresails, while the wind astern 
drove her forward. Here the trouble started, but fortu- 
nately quickly ended by good management and good for- 
tune. Had we touched the entrance island the ship wo^l!d 
at once have been broken into matchwood. From this 
place I carried pleasant recollections, more on account of 
the bold contour and strangeness of the island than be- 
cause it pleased my friends to chart it as a tribute to 
myself. Strange as it may read, among the finding of 
shipwreck remains there were letters and bottles from a 
sealing captain mentioned in Prof. Moseley's "Challenger 
Notes" twenty years ago. Capt. Fuller is an old hand at 
the business, and evidently has the indomitable pluck of 
the -American in the making and losing of fortunes in 
rough waters ! As for ourselves, we managed to quit the 
land safely on Feb. 18, although for a few hours we could 
not get over a severe loss we made at the last moment. 
Having on the 17th killed, skinned and anchored a batch 
of skins to the value of £250. all hands on board heaved 
anchors next morning to stand into a near bay to take 
them off. Two storms now showed their effects: one in 
driving all the skins ashore and burying them in the sand ; 
the other in driving us off the bay altogether. 
With a threatening sky our tight and dry little brig, the 
Edward, now headed for Melbourne, and we started a 
direct homeward course of 3,400 miles. This was duly 
accomplished in twenty-two days, and we experienced a 
phenomenal wind for the latter fourteen days, w^hich was 
from the north instead of the prevailing one from the 
west, a circumstance of exceedingly rare occurrence. 
found several cows and their young, the latter apparently 
but a few days old. 
"When the sea elephants come on shore for the purpose 
of shedding, if not disturbed, they remain out of the 
water until the old hair falls off. By the time this change 
comes about, the animal is supposed to lose half its fat ; 
indeed, it sometimes becomes very thin, and is then called 
a 'slim skin.' 
"In the stomach of a sea elephant a few pebbles are 
found, which has given rise to the saying that 'they take 
in ballast before going down' (returning to the sea). On 
warm and sunny days we have watched them coine up 
singly, on smooth beaches, and burrow in the dry 'sand, 
throwing over their backs, the loose particles that collect 
about their fore limbs, and nearly covering themselves 
from view. But Avhen not disturbed, the animals follow 
their gregarious propensity, and collect in large herds." 
Elsewhere he speaks of 165 as the largest number he ever 
saw together in one herd. 
Among the earless seals, the sea elephant appears to 
starid quite alone, in the very great difference which 
exists in size between the male and female. This is almost 
as great as that between the sea lion bull and his cow. 
The sea elephant takes its name from the long, wrinkled 
proboscis or extensible snout, which is seen in the male. 
Just what the purpose of this may be does not appear 
to be known. 
By far the best accounts of the sea elephant in North 
America have been written by Captain Scammon, and 
almost all authors have copied his account, and no doubt 
will always continue to do so. 
He says: "The habits of these huge beasts when on 
shore or loitering about the foaming breakers, are in every 
respect like those of the leopard seals (that is, the Pacific 
harbor seals). Our observation of the sea elephants of 
California go to show that they have been found in much 
larger numbers from Febiaiary to June than during other 
months of the year. But more or less, we at all times 
found them on shore, upon their favorite beaches, which 
were about the Islands of Santa Barbara, Cerros, Guada- 
lupe, San Bonitos, Natividad, San Roque and Asuncion, 
and some of the most inaccessible points on the mainland, 
between Asuncion and Cerros, Wlien coming up out of 
the water, they were generally first seen near the line of 
surf, then crawl up by degrees, frequently rclining as if to 
sleep; again moving up or along the shore, appearing not 
The Indian Devil. 
My companion and I were sitting late one afternoon at 
a beaver lake, waiting for the sim to get near the tree 
tops before pushing our canoe into the lake to watch for 
beaver. They generally break water near the lodge about 
sundown and swim along shore to cut their food, and 
one has usually a chance of a shot. 
All at once we heard back in the bush a cracking and 
breaking of branches, readily understood as done by a 
large animal running through the underbrush at a high 
rate of speed. The noises came nearer and near, a little 
off to our right, and I grasped my double-barreled gun 
which lay beside me and waited events. 
A few moments after we saw a large caribou break 
cover about one hundred yards to the right and spring 
into the lake. But what was that black object clinging to 
his neck ? Surely some animal ! 
The caribou struck out as fast as^-it could swim, heading 
for the further shore, and we jumped into our canoe and 
gave pursuit. The keen eyes of the animal on the cari- 
bou's neck having detected us, it relinquished its hold, 
dropped off into the water and turned for the shore the 
caribou had left. 
The canoe was immediately headed to cut off his re- 
treat, and when within proper distance I shot it with one 
barrel and left it there dead on the surface of the lake, 
while we continued on our chase. 
This diversion had taken our attention from the cari- 
bou, but now, when we had resumed the chase, we found 
the animal was getting through the water very slowly, 
and as we were paddling in its wake, we perceived the 
water at each side of the canoe was bloody. By the time 
we reached the caribou it was dead. 
On examination we found the jugular vein had been 
cut by the fierce animal on its back, and it had bled to 
