170 ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 



Position of the breeding rookeries. — The breeding seals occupy 

 a slip of ground between the cliffs, which is covered with bowlders and 

 broken rocks, beginning a few feet above high-water mark and extend- 

 ing back over a depth of from 50 to 200 feet in a compact and uniform 

 mass. Such places are called breeding rookeries. 



Position op the hauling grounds. — The nonbreeding seals, on 

 the contrary, are scattered over the sand beaches and the higher 

 ground in the rear without any regular order of distribution. When 

 these hauling grounds lie to the rear of the breeding grounds, as they 

 sometimes do, pathways are left open in the rookeries at convenient 

 points to allow a passage u]3 from the sea and back thereto for the 

 nonbreeding seals. 



Number of rookeries. — There are seven rookeries on St. Paul 

 Island, extending, with tlie adjacent hauling grounds, over one-third 

 of its shore line, and on St. George Island there are five breeding 

 places and hauling reaches, which, however, take up less than one- 

 tenth of its coast. These breeding grounds are reoccupied each year 

 with but little change. 



Description of the landing of the seal. — About the middle 

 of May, usually, tlie bulls, which are the first of the breeding seals to 

 arrive, crawl from the water and establish the rookeries in readiness 

 for the cows that begin to come somewhat later. It seems probable 

 that the rookeries are occupied by the same bulls and cows from year 

 to year, as they (the rookery grounds) change but little, either in size 

 or form ; but it has been proven that the bachelors do not return to 

 the same hauling grounds, or even to the same island, with regularity 

 from year to year. The time of arrival of cows is governed by their 

 period of gestation, as they do not appear on the rookeries until within 

 a short time of giving birth to their pups. Hence all do not come at 

 the same i3eriod, but arrive continuously from the last days of May 

 until the middle of July. 



Polygamous and angry nature op the males. — The bulls are 

 polygamous, liaving from twent}^ to fifty cows each, so the number of 

 them upon the rookeries is not more than one-tenth of that of the 

 cows. Tliey have frequent and bloody fights for the possession and 

 retention of their places upon the breeding grounds, and for control 

 of the cows, in which they are often killed or are driven from the 

 roolceries, and are more or less badly bitten by the sharp teeth of 

 their opponents. The females do not even always escape unhurt, as 

 two males seize one and literally tear her in two by tlieir struggle for 

 her possessio7i. 



Arrival of the females and birth of their young. — The 

 cows are continuously arriving upon the rookeries and giving birth 

 to their pujjs from the last of May until the middle of July. Usually 

 each female bears a single pup, though I have been told by persons 

 whose statement I have no reason to doubt that they have witnessed 

 one or two instances of twins. From the 20th to the 25th of July the 

 rookeries are fuller than at any other time during the season, as the 

 pups have all been born, and all the bulls, cows, and pups remain 

 within these limits. 



Protracted fasting of the males. — During the breeding season, 

 which lasts three consecutive months, or nearly so, the bulls remain 

 ui^on the rookeries, never leaving them for an instant even to procure 

 food. This fast and the constant watchfulness necessary to keep 

 their harems togetlier, and to prevent the encroachments of other 

 bulls and the service of the cows rendej-s their position no sinecure. 



