ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 69 



ashore, however, is the one most followed and favored. In this case 

 they avoid the rookeries altogether, and repair to the iinoccuijied 

 beaches between them, and then extend themselves out all the way 

 back from the sea, as far from the water in some cases as a quarter 

 and even half of a mile. I stood on the Tolstoi sand dunes one after- 

 noon toward the middle of July and had under my eyes, in a straight- 

 forward sweep from my feet to Zapadnie, a million and a half of seals 

 spread out on those hauling grounds. Of these I estimated that fully 

 one-half at that time were pups, yearlings, and " hoUuschickie." The 

 rookeries across the bay, though i^lainly in sight, were so crowded 

 that they looked exactly as I have seen surfaces appear upon which 

 bees had swarmed in obedience to that din and racket made by the 

 watchful ai^iarian when he desires to hive the restless honey makers. 



The great majority of yearlings and "hoUuschickie" are annually 

 hauled out and packed thicklj^ over the sand beach and upland haul- 

 ing grounds which lie between the rookeries on St. Paul Island. At 

 St. George there is nothing of this extensive display to be seen, for here 

 is only a tithe of the seal life occupying St. Paul, and no opportunity 

 whatever is afforded for an amphibious parade. 



Gentleness of the seals. — Descend with me from this sand dune 

 elevation of Tolstoi and walk into that drove of ' ' hoUuschickie " below 

 us. We can do it; you do not notice much confusion or dismay as we 

 go in among them; they simply open out before us and close in behind 

 our tracks, stirring, crowding to the right and left as we go, 12 or 20 

 feet awa}^ from us on each side. Look at this small flock of yearlings, 

 some 1, others 2, and even 3 years old, which are coughing and spit- 

 ting around us now, staring up at our faces in amazement as we walk 

 ahead; thej^ struggle a few rods out of our reach, and then come 

 together again behind us, showing no further sign of notice of our- 

 selves. You could not walk into a drove of hogs at Cliicago without 

 exciting as much confusion and arousing an infinitely more disagree- 

 able tumult; and as for sheep on the plains, they would stampede far 

 quicker. Wild animals, indeed! You can noAv readily understand 

 how easy it is for two or three men early in the morning to come where 

 we are, turn aside from this vast herd in front of and around us two 

 or three thousand of the best examples, and drive them back, up, and 

 over to the village. That is the way they get the seals; there is not 

 any "hunting" or "chasing" or "capturing" of fur seals on these 

 islands. 



" Holluschickie " DO NOT FAST. — While the young male seals 

 undoubtedly have the power of going for lengthy intervals without 

 food, they, like the female seals on the breeding grounds, certainly 

 do not maintain any long fasting periods on land; their coming and 

 going from the shore is frequent and irregular, largely influenced by 

 the exact condition of the weather from day to day; for instance, 

 three or four thick, foggy daj's seem to call them out from the water 

 by hundreds of thousands upon the different hauling grounds (which 

 the reader observes recorded on my map). In some cases I have 

 seen them lie there so close together that scarcely a foot of ground, 

 over whole acres, is bare enough to be seen; then a clear and warmer 

 day follows, and this seal-covered ground, before so thickly packed 

 with animal life, will soon be almost deserted — comparatively so at 

 least — to be filled up immediately as before when favorable weather 

 shall again recur. They must frequently eat when here, because the 

 first yearlings and "holluschickie " that appear in the spring are no 

 fatter, sleeker, or livelier than the}^ ai-e at the close of the season; 

 in other words, their condition, physically, seems to be the same from 



