THE DEATH OF PUPS. 371 



Oil July 30 there was the severest surf of the season, and coming from the south- 

 west it beat without restraint on Ardigueu, but no drowned pups are seen. When 

 the surf breaks directly the pups withdraw. No " deadly surf nip " of any conse- 

 quence has been seen, and certainly no dead pups as a result of it. 



THE TRAMPLED PUP. 



Dr. Voss supplies the following full record of the autopsy of the dead pup from 

 Gorbatch: "The muscular system of the animal was intact; no evident wound was 

 found on the head or under the skin. The stomach was full of milk; the heart full 

 of venous blood; blood was found in pericardium from the ruptured vessels; the gall 

 bladder was somewhat injured by pressure; there was some congestion of the lungs. 

 Death evidently resulted from being stepped upon, the pressure bursting the right 

 auricle at the entrance of the vena cava. The rupture of a blood vessel of tbe heart 

 was the immediate cause of death." 



The pup was found on a flat rock at the top of the rocky slope of Gorbatch, high 

 above the sea. This examination shows that even the largest pups may sometimes 

 be killed by the bulls. The little ones of a few days old, if stepped upon squarely, 

 must die, although most of those we have seen under the feet of the bulls get up 

 uninjured. 



THE DEATH TRAPS. 



The dead pups thus far have either been crushed by the bulls or starved as the 

 result of straying, or else trampled by the bachelors. No other cause has been noted, 

 and more than half of the dead pups have been small ones with the umbilical cord 

 attached. The places of their death have been chiefly the sandy areas. The piling 

 of stones in these flats and depressions would save a great many pups. They would 

 receive protection in the crevices of the rocks, and the bulls would not be so likely to 

 set their full weight upon them. It is at any rate to be noted that few, if any, dead 

 pups are to be seen in the harems that lie on the loose bowlders of the water front 

 and under the cliffs. 



AUGUST 3. 



Dr. Jordan and Mr. Clark visited Lukanin rookery in the afternoon. 



Heavy rain fell during the forenoon, slackening somewhat at noon, but resuming 

 again later in the afternoon. A heavy surf was coming in on Lukanin and Kitovi 

 rookeries. 



KITOVI AND LUKANIN. 



The rookeries are wet and muddy. Each seal and pup, where possible, is perched 

 on a rock to be out of the mud. A favorite attitude in the rain is for the animal to 

 sit up dozing, with the head thrown back and the nose high in the air. All look 

 uncomfortable, but not as though they suffered. A few seals are in the sea despite 

 the high surf. No pups are trying the open water. This rookery is sheltered from the 

 wind, but not from the surf, which is from the east. When a strong wind has been 

 blowing from any direction for a few days a sort of return swell is started on the 

 opposite side of the island. Many of the pups were huddled under rocks and 

 overhanging edges of the cliffs. 



