THE EFFECTS OF DISTURBANCE. 335 



The autopsies of seals of all ages and grades show splendid visceral health. The 

 only wounds are on the head, breast, and especially at the edge of the fore flipper. In 

 the latter place all old bulls show scars. When the seals fight they aim to strike low 

 at the angle of the fore flipper, as if knowing it to be a weak spot. 



THE EFFECT OF DISTURBANCE. 



One of the bulls that tried to kill the one we shot now lolls quietly 30 feet away, 

 while the skinning is going on. He looks on with sleepy interest, no longer afraid, 

 as we are not moving, nor angry, as we do not invade his grounds. He soon goes to 

 sleep beside us. 



If we killed a hundred bulls and skinned them on the spot the others would not 

 pay any attention. It is only our movements they fear. They have a nervous dread 

 of quick movements, whether of other bulls or of men. The old bulls are made angry, 

 the young ones afraid. The bachelors on hauling ground, in the rear of the rookeries, 

 when alarmed rush to the rookeries, as they did when pups. This causes many of 

 them to get cut and roughly handled, for the old bulls soon show them they are not 

 wanted. 



The bull is much quicker to detect the nature of the intruder than the cow, which 

 fears man chiefly when he is moving. A bachelor seal can often be surprised when 

 asleep, and the surprise is sometimes mutual, as a big fellow starts up unexpectedly 

 from behind a rock and dashes away in great haste. If it is an old bull that is 

 surprised he will plunge at you, but before he has gone 10 feet he will turn about to 

 see what his cows are doing. Then you can get away, for after he has once looked 

 back he goes no farther. He will turn from an intruder to intercept the flight of his 

 cows. This he does by snorting, growling, blowing out his musky breath, by seizing 

 the cow and bending her neck backward to the ground, or by seizing her by the back 

 and tossing her over his head. The cows are afraid to leave when the bull exhorts in 

 this way, and during the period when the harems are well defined the cows are more 

 afraid of the bull than of any intruder; but after July 20, when the cows have become 

 impregnated, their fear of the bull passes away and the older ones do as they please, 

 running away when frightened. Later on the young cows also become more 

 independent. When a cow wants to go and the bull interposes she bites him in the 

 neck. For the most part he takes it patiently enough, though sometimes the fur 

 comes away with the cow's sharp teeth. 



THE SEA-LION ROOKERIES. 



North of Hutchinson Hill is a mighty hauling ground, with thousands of bachelors 

 still on it. Once across the whole end of the island was an immense parade ground. 

 A huge sea lion is seen asleep on the rocks with a drove of bachelors about him. 



From the hauling ground and leading to the water is a great neutral belt of beach 

 line, similar to that occupied by harems, but left open to the passing bachelors. 



About 20 sea-lion pups are lying on a rocky shelf close to the sea, where the surf 

 breaks over them. About 10 dead ones are cast up on the beach. Adult sea lions 

 are more shy and the pups more defenseless than seal pups. Bulls as well as cows 

 take to the water when disturbed and stay there bellowing, the cow much like that 

 of a bull seal, but the tone is flatter, and the pups with very heavy flat voices. The 

 sea-lion pups soon grow calm. There is considerable variation in their size. Two or 

 three of the largest ones are twice as bis: as the smaller ones. 



