SEALS AND SEA-LIONS. 173 



and as many of the small, gentle females as he can 

 induce to live with him, as they come in from the 

 sea, together with all he can steal from his neigh- 

 boring lords. 



Sometimes he will get thirty, and again only 

 one or two; while many males, especially the 

 younger ones, are obliged to keep bachelor's hall. 

 There is no end of growling and scolding and 

 fighting, and blood often flows freely. 



For fear of thieves, the head of a family dares 

 not leave his home, even to get a mouthful of food, 

 and so he fasts all summer, and lives on his own 

 fat. Sometimes a thief comes up slyly and catches 

 up a female seal in his mouth and tries to carry 

 her off to his home. This act enrages her master, 

 and in the fight that follows between the two big 

 seals the poor thing is almost torn in pieces. 



The young seals are born in these households, 

 and are cared for by their mothers until they 

 learn how to swim and can catch food for them- 

 selves. Then all the seals begin to slip off to sea, 

 and gradually the summer home is broken up. 

 The males leave last, and then the islands remain 

 lone and bare during the long winter. 



While the seals are on the islands, some of the 

 males that have no families to care for are selected 

 by the men in charge of the station and are driven 



