DEPENDENCE UPON ITS MOTHER. 129 



of seal comfort, on his back and side, and wave and fan himself with his 

 flippers, scratch himself, bleat, etc. As these signs were unmistak- 

 able to all present who were familiar with the habits of seals, the op- 

 eration was thought to be a success. Up to the last time the pup was 

 seen, late that night, he was doing finely, but next morning he was 

 found dead, and I attributed his sudden taking olf either to the small 

 boy or an accident during the night. 



Another instance is that of a young pup seal born under almost sim- 

 ilar circumstances some years previous, and deserted by his mother. It 

 was placed near the water's edge to see if in a few days its mother would 

 not return to it, or maybe it might take to the water naturally and 

 swim across to an adjoining rookery a few yards distant, and possibly 

 there be found by its mother and its life thus be saved. Day after day 

 this pup was watched, but it would not go near the water and neither 

 did its mother return. After several days or so a new employe" of that 

 season only, and knowing nothing whatever of fur-seal life and habits, 

 coming along that way and finding the pup in the grass, thinking prob- 

 ably that he had gotten lost from the other side, took him up and threw 

 him into the water, with a view of giving him a chance of swimming 

 back home. It was a mistaken kindness, however, for he was i in medi- 

 ately drowned, as he was too young to swim, his head being too heavy 

 for his body. 



These cases demonstrate two points, i. e., that a very young fur-seal 

 can live a considerable time without nourishment, several days or more; 

 also that they can not swim, and any and all fur-seals born in the water 

 must necessarily perish. 



I remember these two instances distinctly, as I was very much im- 

 pressed by them at the time. Others might possibly be cited, but I 

 think these will suffice. These two isolated instances show that a young 

 fur-seal can live without its mother's care for a week or so, and that 

 the little fellows on the rookeries, who probably have been nursed to 

 their heart's content before the mother seals took their departure, stand 

 at least an equal, if not superior, chance of life, until their mother's 

 return froin the feeding grounds, even giving them wide margins for 

 delays. 



The pups driven up for native use in the fall were always full to 

 overflowing with milk, their stomachs containing 

 nothing else. These pups are as round and plump W. S. Hereford, p. 35. 

 as partridges, while those dead on the rookeries, 



unless killed by accidents of some kind, are never of the plump and 

 well- nourished looking order, but are generally lean and thin, bearing 

 all the external signs of neglect and starvation. 



They do not eat or drink anything except the Mcoli Krukoff, p. 133. 

 milk they get from the cows. 



They are nursed by the mother, who, after copulation has taken place, 

 is permitted by the old male to go at will in quest 



of food. At about six weeks old the young gather h. w. Mcintyre,p. 136. 

 in groups and shortly after learn to swim, but 



depend for a long period upon the mother for sustenance, hence her 

 destruction must result in the death of the young through starvation. 



Until 1891 we were allowed to kill several 

 thousand pup seals for food in November, about AntonMelovedoff,p. 144. 



9 BS 



