404 THE FUR SEALS OF THE PKIBILOF ISLANDS. 



behind tlie boat almost immediately. They followed the boat, coming up elose to it, 

 sometimes striking the oars. Their every action shows that they feel entirely at 

 home in the water. 



The sands of English Bay, where 232 pups were counted as washed up by the 

 surf, gives to-day only 172. 



TOLSTOI. 



The sandy tract of Tolstoi was first counted, the lines being used as on Outer 

 Zapadni, dividing the rookery into two sections. The sandy tract and the beach 

 above gave 1,717 pups. About 1,400 were counted here originally. The bowlder 

 bluffs above, where the seals are at present located, gave 463 pups. There were 209 

 on the beach under the cliffs. This part yielded 116 on the former count. The 

 percentage of dead pups on narrow beach lines like this exposed to the action of the 

 surf is smaller. Doubtless they are washed away from STich places in greater 

 numbers. One hundred and ninety one starving pups were counted for Zapadni. 



Though every cow, bull, and pup on the rocky slope of Tolstoi had been driven 

 into the water when making the count of dead pups, before we had reached the green 

 cliffs the sands were covered, the wet animals distributing themselves over their 

 grounds again. It is nonsense to suppose that if the seal is driven off the rookery 

 he will not come back. 



ACCIDENTS TO PUPS. 



While the seals were being driven from the rocks above the sand flat a large 

 stone was rolled down upon 2 large, fine-looking pups, killing them. These pups, of 

 course, were not counted as starved. The stomachs of both were full of milk. 



Just at the upper edge of the sand tract, where the rocks begin, a gray pup was 

 found imprisoned in a crevice under two overarching rocks. There wa^ a small hole, 

 through which his nose protruded, but it was entirely too small for his body. He 

 vas dug out and released. It was found that he had crawled in at the bottom, and 

 the hard wind of the past few days had drifted and packed in the sand in such a 

 Vay that he could not get out. It took the men five minutes to dig the way, as that 

 was the only way of getting him out. He fought, bit, and chased his benefactors in 

 true seal fashion when he got out and scolded constantly during the process of 

 digging. 



Under the cliffs a little pup was found wedged in between two rocks. The surf 

 had evidently moved a heavy stone up on him while asleep. The stone jammed out 

 one of his eyes and held him a prisoner. The eye and socket was rotting, as was also 

 his side, which was pinched. Life still lingered in the animal. It was killed. It is 

 evident that being crushed between the rocks is the cause of a certain percentage of 

 the deaths of pups. 



Had an opportunity to-day to observe the testes in a number of bulls, among 

 others those which showed strong inclination to fight. In some they were visible; 

 in others they were not. This has been the result of all observations so far. As a 

 rule, when lying down the 4-year-olds and half bulls show the testes more uniformly 

 than the other bulls. 



