ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 691 



the height of the season, wheu the coming and going of the cows in large 

 numbers keep the harems stirred up. At this time, taking advantage 

 of the confusion, the idle bulls attempt to steal cows, and lighting 

 results between this class and the harem masters. The harem bulls 

 rarely tight among themselves, though they are ready at all times to 

 combine and make common cause against an intruder. The tiercest 

 tightiug is among the idle bulls, which hang about the rear of the rook- 

 eries. It is among this class that tlie fatal fights occur. 



Page 53 : The harem masters, while tired, lean, and hungry on leaving 

 the rookeries at the close of July, are hardly as abject as Mr. Elliott's 

 graphic words would leave one to infer. They are able and willing to 

 fight intruders to the last, as our efforts to reoiove them in making the 

 count of live and dead pups July 30 to- August 3, 1897, abundantly 

 show. 



While it is true that for the most part the rutting season is over by 

 the 10th of August, it is not entirely so, as our observations showed 

 frequent instances of copulation throughout August and even in 

 September. 



Page 54: The fur seal certainly does not swallow " occasional juicy 

 fronds of seaweed or kelp," nor even "soft shelled crabs" to vary the 

 monotony of his diet. jSoue of the many stomachs examined during 

 the seasons of 1896 and 1897 show traces of these things. Such objects 

 if taken into the stomach at all are more likely seized by accident 

 rather than intent. It is difficult to say what the puri^ose of the fur 

 se;il and the sea lion may be in taking the stones into the stomach, but 

 this practice is not, as here stated, limited to the bulls. It is common 

 to all classes of the animals down to the pup of three months old. 



That the stomachs of the bachelors are empty, as here mentioned, is 

 not due to lasting on the part of this class of animals, but rather to the 

 fact that they in common with the cows remain in the water to digest 

 their food. The examination of a considerable number of cows during 

 the season of 1896, evidently just returned from feeding, showed the 

 stomachs in every instance to be empty, not excepting an instance where 

 the animal came to its death by choking on a fish bone. 



We have here a reiteration of the exaggerated account of fighting 

 already referred to. The appearance of the bulls, as seen this season 

 just before the arrival of the cows, plainly indicated that no considerable 

 fighting had taken place. There were none of the wounds visible which 

 were so conspicuous among some classes later. The "period of univer- 

 sal, si^asmodic, desperate fighting" among the bulls from the 12th to the 

 ]4th of June is a jiure fiction. The arrival of cows about this time is so 

 gradual and ([uiet that the bulls, as a class, j^ay no attention to them and 

 there is absolutely no fighting over them. The record of daily counts 

 show this gradual appearance of the cows. On Kitovi rookery, where 

 2 cows arrived on June 14, there were but 9 on the 20th and 76 on the 

 26th, out of a total for the season of 1,245. A similar count on Lukanin 

 showed like results, there being 1 cow on the 12th, 37 on the 20th, 207 

 on the 26th, out of a total for the season of about 4,000. During this 

 period there was absolutely no disturbance on the rookeries. 



It may be contended that in the more expanded and crowded condi- 

 tion of the rookeries, as seen by Mr. Elliott, a different order of thiiigs 

 obtained. This may be true, though it is very doubtful, while the 

 present grossly overstocked condition of the rookeries as to bulls, and 

 the consequent fiercer struggle to obtain possession of the few remain- 

 ing cows, make it probable that more fighting, on the whole, occurred 

 in the seasons of 1896 and 1897 than ever before. There are and have 



