616 THE VOYAGE OF THE VEGA. [chap. 



young ones are often smothered by the old, when the latter, 

 frightened in some way, rush out into the sea. After such an 

 alarm hundreds of dead young are found on the shore. 



" Only " thirteen thousand animals had been killed that year. 

 Their flayed carcases lay heaped on the grass by the shore, 

 spreading far and wide a disagreeable smell, which, however, 

 had not frightened away their comrades lying on the neighbour- 

 ing promontory, because, even among them, a similar smell 

 prevailed in consequence of the many animals suffocated or 

 killed in fight with their comrades, and left lying on the shore. ^ 

 Among this great flock of sea-bears sat enthroned on the top of 

 a high stone a single sea-lion, the only one of these animals 

 we saw during our voyage. 





SEA-BEARS ON THEIR WAX TO THE " ROOKERIES." 



(After a drawing by H. W. Elliott.) 



For a payment of forty roubles I induced the chief of the 

 village to skeletonise four of the half putrefied carcases of the 

 sea-bear left lying on the grass ; and I afterwards obtained, by 

 the good-will of the Russian authorities, and without any 

 payment, six animals, among them two living young, for 

 stuffing. Even the latter we were comjDclled to kill, after 



^ Elliott (loc. cit. p. 150) remarks that not a single self-dead seal is to be 

 found in the "rookery," where there are so many animals that they pro- 

 bably die of old age in thousands. This may he explained by the seals, 

 when they become sick, withdrawing to the sea, and forms another cou- 

 tribution to the quesHon of the finding of self-dead animals to which I 

 have ah-eady referred (p. 246). 



