THE COUNT OF HAREMS ON REEF. 319 



in the direction of the harems. The cow has a hole in her side, but has been too long 

 dead to make it possible to determine the cause of death. 



Small harems are located behind the regular mass, and these mark the outline 

 of the mass of last year. One has 2 small cows; another has 3. The cows are small, 

 silvery, and slim. There are no pups. One cow from the harem of 2 gets away and 

 joins the harem of 3, much to the surprise of the bull to whom she comes. The remain- 

 ing cow is lonesome and tries to get away. These are apparently virgin two year olds, 

 and seem very small by the side of the big black bull. The runaway cow soon makes 

 herself at home in the new harem. 



There is an enormous number of idle bulls and half bulls. The interests of the 

 herd demand that their number be reduced. The idle bulls simply tear each other, 

 steal females, and trample on the pups. Those nearest the rookeries crowd upon them 

 and are in turn crowded upon by those behind. 



About 40 bulls are counted on the flat ground in the next wedge. The shingle 

 beach chops off here so steeply, that all the harems can not be counted. There are 

 probably 35 more out of sight. 



Next comes a flat at the angle of the parade ground, and the seals grow fewer 

 and the space narrower. 



Twenty-five harems are counted to the angle of the point opposite Sivutch Kock, 

 and 25 more are located along the parade-ground front to the castle-like pile of rocks. 

 The shingle beach here everywhere falls off too steeply to admit of counting from 

 above. Twenty harems are therefore estimated for those out of sight, and later 

 observations from the sand dunes at the extreme northern end, giving a lengthwise 

 view of the beach, shows the estimate to be about right. There are 43 harems from 

 the rock pile to the end of the rookery. Adding together the various patches counted 

 on the Reef we have a total of 504 harems for this rookery, and applying the average 

 of Kitovi the number of cows would be 8,719. 



A battle royal between a bull with 1 cow and another from a large harem is 

 witnessed at the edge of the parade ground. One bull is badly cut; meanwhile his 

 cow runs away and the attacking bull goes after her. 



Three other idle bulls attacked the defeated and deserted one and handled him 

 very roughly. The cow has brought up in a distant harem and is lost to all three. 

 In their fighting the bulls show a tendency to clinch when the fighting becomes too 

 hot. At close range they push one another like centers in opposing foot-ball teams. 



No dead pups are visible on Reef rookery. Of live pups there seems to be about 

 three for every four cows. Cows step on pups in getting around, the pups paying no 

 attention. 



GORBATCH. 



From the brow of the cliffs overlooking Gorbatch 3 cows are seen perched on 

 an almost inaccessible ledge. Their pups are trying to reach them, climbing up the 

 slippery slope time after time, only to fall back to the bottom. The cows do not seem 

 to care whether the pups get up or not, though they call them at intervals. 



Two cows have a fight because one abuses the pup of the other which gets in her 

 way. One pup tries for ten minutes to get across the slippery ridge. When almost 

 successful a cow snaps at him, he loses his balance, and slides to the bottom. His 

 mother has been bleating to him across the ridge, but shows no disposition to help 

 and no alarm at his mishap. 



