20 G. E. H. BARRETT-HAMILTON [ JULY 



spring the seals must await the dispersal of the ice before they can 

 land on the colder shores of the Pribilofs and Bobben Island, the 

 ice-free Commanders are always ready to afford them a safe resting- 

 place. It is obvious then that what they chiefly want are un- 

 inhabitable islands which are free from ice and snow by the time 

 at which they wish to land. On such islands breeding seals are not 

 at all particular as to the nature of the ground they lie upon, pro- 

 vided only that it is not a sandy beach. Such a beach seems to cause 

 them some annoyance, probably because the particles of sand (especi- 

 ally in wet or windy weather) stick in their fur and irritate their eyes. 

 The non-breeding seals or bachelors have, however, no such aversion 

 to sandy beaches, and are frequently to be found hauling up on such, 

 especially on the great sandy bays of St. Paul Island. In the latter 

 case, however, it may be that they haul up on sand not because they 

 like it, but because all other suitable areas are occupied by breeding 

 seals, and hence forbidden ground to the bachelors. 



The only rookery where I saw breeding seals hauling up on 

 sand is that of Eobben Island, and here the shingle which composes 

 the beach becomes in some places gradually finer, so that it is actually 

 of the consistency of coarse sand. In addition to Eobben Island there 

 are one or two sandy spots frequented by breeding seals at St. Paul's, 

 but these are small and chiefly brought into prominence by the ravages 

 of the parasitic worm ( Uncinaria) among the pups born on these flat 

 sandy surfaces. 



Elsewhere the rookeries and their situations are as varied as they 

 could well be. Thus on St. Paul Island the seals, finding flat areas 

 gently sloping up from the sea, have overrun whole acres of the 

 island, even ascending the sides of hills, which lie at a distance of 

 several hundred yards from the beach, and reducing the whole area 

 occupied by the rookeries to a bare expanse of stone and clay, long- 

 since worn quite clear of grass or vegetation by their constant passage 

 over it. St. George Island is more mountainous, and here the seals are 

 forced to occupy more rocky ground, only advancing up the cliff-sides 

 where the nature of the ground permits their easy ascent. On 

 Bering's Island one rookery is on a great reef, while the other is on 

 a narrow beach at the foot of a low but unscaleable cliff. Lastly, 

 we have the opposite extreme in mountainous Copper Island, where 

 the high sheer precipices leave the seals no choice but to occupy the 

 narrow beaches, small inaccessible bays, and projecting reefs, which 

 alone intervene between the island and the sea. Yet even here, when 

 opportunity offers, they climb up the gulleys formed by streams which 

 have here and there cut a channel for themselves through the cliffs on 

 their way to the sea, and, as at Palata, wear out for themselves a bare 

 parade ground above the level of the shore. Naturally the best sites 

 for rookeries are sheltered bays where projecting reefs shield the young- 

 pups from the violence of a heavy surf and form pools where they can 



