130 THE PUPS. 



the time uheywere ready to leave the island. We generally killed ten 

 or twelve for every person on the island, and when we killed them 

 they were always found to be full of milk. 



The pup, however, seems to make no distinction between the cows, 



endeavoring to nurse from any which come near 



J. R. Moulton, p. 72. it. Then, too, a pup is not weaned till it is four 



or more months old, depending entirely on its 



mother for sustenance. 



The pup is entirely dependent on its dam for sustenance, and when 



it is a few days old she goes into the sea to feed, 



L. A. Noyes,p. 82. returning at intervals of a few hours at first, and 



gradually lengthening the time as the pups grow 



older and stronger, until she will be, sometimes, away for a whole week. 



They make no effort to secure sustenance of any sort beyond that 

 furnished by their dams. 



I have examined many pups at the food killings in November, and I 

 never found anything but milk in their stomachs. 



At birth and for several weeks after the pup is utterly helpless and 

 entirely dependent on its dam for sustenance, and 

 J. c. Redpath, p. 148. should anything prevent her return during this 

 period, it dies on the rookery. This has been 

 demonstrated beyond a doubt since the sealing vessels have operated 

 largely in Bering Sea during the months of July, August, and Septem- 

 ber, and which, killing the cows at the feeding grounds, left the pups 

 to die on the islands. 



After learning to swim, the pups still draw their sustenance from 

 the cows, and I have noticed at the annual killing 

 J. C. Redpath, p. 141*. of pups for food in November, that their stomachs 

 were always full of milk and nothing else, al- 

 though the cows had left the island some days before. I have no 

 know ledge of the pups obtaining sustenance of any kind except that 

 furnished by the cows; nor have I ever seen anything but milk in a 

 dead pup's stomach. 



The death of every such mother seal at sea means the death of her 

 pup on shore, because it is absolutely and entirely 

 Danl. Webster, p. 183. dependent on her for its daily sustenance. 



VITALITY. 



Page 107 of The Case. 



(See "The Cows— Feeding Excursions.") 



E. Artomanoff, p. 100. When the pup is 2 or o weeks old the mother 

 often stays away for five or six days at a time. 



He also said that the pups could live on land at least seven or eight 

 Jno. Malowanshy, p. days without sustenance and that those born in 

 198. the water would immediately drown. 



