MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 95 



residence at St. Paul's there was very little fog on the island, though it 

 could be seen resting on the water ten or fifteen miles off shore, form- 

 ing clouds which obscured the sun during the greater part of the time. 

 The climate is not favorable to agriculture, but there is at least a thou- 

 sand acres of first-class grazing land along the southeast shore and in 

 the vicinity of the village. 



Last year a horse and four neat cattle were brought to the island. 

 Directions had been given to prepare hay for them, but owing to the 

 dampness of the atmosphere it was not done, so that when the cattle 

 were landed there were only such supplies of food for them as the 

 island naturally afforded. They therefore had to subsist on the dry 

 grass of the flats, on which they wintered in good condition, the cows 

 giving a good supply of milk. The wild rye-heads proved nutritious 

 food, of which the supply was abundant. The horse also came through 

 in excellent condition, though having no grain. Goats and sheep have 

 been added to the stock on the island during the past season. They 

 have all bred and are doing well. I have been thus minute in these 

 details, because I have often heard it asserted that these islands are bar- 

 ren rocks, without vegetation. 



The Habits of the Fur Seal. 



The fur seals resort to the Pribyloff Islands during the summer 

 months for the sole purpose of reproduction. Those sharing in these 

 duties necessarily remain on or near the shore until the joung are able 

 to take to the water. During this considerable period the old seals are 

 not known to take any food. In order to speak intelligibly of the 

 duties of the several classes of seals at this important season, it is 

 necessary at this point to describe the animals. 



The male fur seal does not attain mature size until about the sixth 

 year. He then measures in total length from seven to eight feet, and 

 six to seven in girth. His color is then dark brown, with gray over- 

 hair on the neck and shoulders. When in full flesh his weight varies 

 from five to seven hundred pounds. These and no others occupy the 

 rookeries (or breeding-grounds) with the females. 



A full-grown female measures four feet in length and two and a half 

 around the body, and differs from the male in form by having a some- 

 what longer head, shorter neck, and a greater fulness of body poste- 

 riorly. She usually weighs from eighty to a hundred pounds. Her 



