Gl-2 THE VOYAGE OF THE VEGA. [chap. xv. 



some strong oxen that have succeeded m securing for themselves 

 places next the shore, and now are lient by fair means or foul 

 on annexing the fair for their harem. But scarcely is the 

 female that has come up out of the water established with 

 seal-ox No. 1, when this ox rushes towards a new beauty 

 on the surface of the water. Seal-ox No. 2 now stretches 

 out his neck and without ceremony lays hold of No. I's spouse, 

 to be afterwards exposed to a repetition of the trick by 

 No. 3. In such cases the females are quite passive, never 

 fall out with each other, and bear with patience the severe 

 wounds they often get when they are pulled about by the 

 combatants, now in one direction, now in another. All the 

 females are finally distributed in this way after furious combats 

 among the males, those of the latter who are nearest the beach 

 getting from twelve to fifteen consorts to their share. Those 

 that have been compelled to settle farther from the shore 

 must be content with four or five. Soon after the landing of the 

 females they bring forth their young, which are treated with 

 great indifference and are protected by the adopted father only 

 within the boundaries of the harem. Next comes the pairing 

 season, and when it has passed there is an end to the arrange- 

 ment and distribution into families at first so strictly main- 

 tained. The seal-oxen, rendered lean by three months absolute 

 fasting, by degrees leave the " rookery," which is taken possession 

 of by the sea-cows, the young, and a number of young males, 

 that have not ventured to the place before. In the middle of 

 September, when the young have learned to swim, the place is 

 quite abandoned, with the exception of single animals that 

 have remained behind for one reason or other. In long con- 

 tinued heavy rain many of the animals besides seek protection 

 in the sea, but return when the rain ceases. Continuous heat 

 and sunshine besides exert the same influence ; cold, moist air, 

 with mist-concealed sun, on the other hand draw them up on 

 land by thousands. 



Males under six years of age cannot, like the older males, 

 possess themselves, by fighting, of spouses and a home of their 

 own. They therefore collect, along with young females, in herds 

 of several thousand to several hundred thousand, on the shores 

 between the rookeries proper, some of them close packed next 

 the water's edge, others scattered in small flocks a little farther 

 from the shore on the grass, where they by turns play with each 

 other with a frolicsomeness like that of young dogs, by turns 

 lie down to sleep at a common signal in all conceivable 

 positions. 



It is these unfortunate useless bachelors which at the properly 

 managed hunting stations yield the contingent for slaughter. 

 For this purpose they are driven by the natives from the shore 



