122 
CARNIVORES. 
years been taken in open water by British vessels cruising in Behring Sea; and it 
was, as already said, in regard to these that the international dispute referred to 
above arose. The seals thus taken appear to be exclusively young males or 
barren females, which have remained at sea during the months of May and 
June, when the great body has gone northwards to the Prybiloffs. Well-appointed 
schooners are engaged in this trade, and the method of procedure is thus 
described by a correspondent of the Times. When one of these vessels is at sea, 
“ and seal are sighted, the little boats are hoisted out; a hunter, armed with two 
shot guns and a rifle, and two sailors to pull the boat, take their places, and the 
hunt begins. A seal swimming on the water, or perchance sleeping, is sighted, and 
the boat is pulled quietly toward the animal. In nine cases out of ten, the seal 
takes alarm and dives out of sight before the boat is brought close enough to use 
the guns with effect, and in no case does the hunter shoot unless he feels sure of 
his quarry. The seal, when shot, at once commences to sink, and the boat has to 
be pulled rapidly up to it, when the carcase is ‘ gaffed ’ and hauled aboard. This 
is repeated as long as a seal can be seen. In many instances only one or two will 
be killed during a whole day’s hunting, but at other times as many as twenty will 
be taken. After a day’s hunt the boats return to the schooner, and the seals are 
skinned and the pelts laid in salt in the hold. This goes on from day to day during 
the season. The seal has a chance of escaping, and the percentage killed is very 
small. When it is considered that an extent of ocean of nearly twelve thousand 
square miles is hunted over, the chance is slight of the seals being exterminated by 
the fleet of fifty or so vessels engaged in the seal-hunting business. It has been 
asserted that only a few seals out of every hundred shot are captured by the 
hunters; that the balance sink or escape wounded, to die later on. This is not so. 
On the contrary, a seal hardly ever escapes when shot. Of course a few do, but 
the percentage is small, probably not over five or six out of the hundred.” Although 
it has been asserted that the number of sea-bears in the open sea is annually 
diminishing, this is denied by unprejudiced experts; and it is mentioned by the 
writer last cited that “the oldest hands in the business state that there are 
apparently as many seals in the sea nowadays as there were many years ago. 
There is, however, some greater difficulty experienced in capturing them. The 
older ones have learned what a sealing boat is, and at the sound of a gun, or at 
the approach of a boat, the wary animal is on its guard, and thus it is harder for 
the hunter to get within range of his quarry. Yet, in spite of this fact, large 
numbers are killed, and the business is fairly profitable.” Of the two methods of 
sealing, the shooting in the open sea is decidedly to be preferred on humanitarian 
grounds, more especially if it be true, as asserted, that on the Prybiloffs a con¬ 
siderable number of breeding female seals are killed before their cubs are old 
enough to shift for themselves. 
The Southern Fur-Seals. 
In the Southern Hemisphere there are some four species of sea-bears or fur- 
seals, all of which differ from the Northern sea-bear in their much longer, 
narrower, and more depressed muzzles, and also in the circumstance that the flaps 
