244 THE SEALS. 



caution is taken in driving not to overheat or weary tlie seals, fre- 

 quent rests being had, and a "drive" never being undertaken when 

 the sun was shining; if the sun came out unexpectedly during a "drive," 

 the animals were at once allowed to return to the water. 



Very few seals die during a "drive," amountingto a very small frac- 

 rion oi"l per cent of those driven, and in nine eases out of ten of those 

 accidentally killed in this way the skins are saved. I never saw or 

 heard of a seal being injured seriously by driving orredriving. I have 

 seen the hind flippers in a few instances a little sore, but never in all 

 my experience have 1 seen an old sore on a seal. I am positive the re- 

 productive organs of every one of the hundreds of thousands of sea lsl 

 have seen driven were uninjured by their movements on land, and I am 

 further convinced this must be so from the fact that a seal when mov- 

 ing on land raises himself slightly on the hind flippers, so that his re- 

 productive organs are clear of the ground. Even if a seal was driven 

 twelve successive days for the average distance between a hauling 

 ground and a killing ground, I do not believe its virility would be at 

 all impaired. 



The result of my observations of the methods of driving the seals 



from the hauling grounds to the killing grounds 



S. E. Netthton, 2>. 7G. is that a very small fraction of 1 per cent of the 



seals die from being overdriven or from being 



overheated in driving. 



When necessary to make a drive, for skins from any given rookery 

 the local agent of the lessees informs the Treasury 



L. J. Noyes, /». 82. agent, and obtains his permission to make the 

 "drive." No seals are driven without the consent 

 of the Treasury agent in charge of the island. All being ready, the 

 native chief takes a squad of men to the hauling ground, where the 

 seals are quietly surrounded without disturbing the breeding rookery, 

 and they are then driven slowly along to the killing ground. 



Since the improved met hods of L879 there is no drives of greater 

 length than 2| miles, and the majority of them do not exceed 1 mile. 

 So carefully and so slowly are the drives made, the men driving are 

 relieved every hour, because of the slow motion they get chilled on the 

 road. 



Orders wereissued by which the driving is regulated in such manner 



that no hauling grounds are molested or dis- 



L. A. Noycs, p. 83. turbed more than another, and, being taken in 



rotation, the seals are allowed several days rest 



between drives. The rules for driving are so strict, so rigidly enforced, 



and so faithfully carried out, that I hardly know how they could be 



improved upon. 



There was indeed no occasion to disturb them [the breeding rook- 

 eries] because the killable seals, or "•bachelors," 



n. G. Otis, p. 86. from 3 to 5 years old. were so numerous that the 



whole catch could be taken from this class with 

 the ease and facility which I have already described. 



Besides, under the operation of the natural laws governing the spe- 

 cies in their habitat, the classes are distinctly separated on land, the 

 bulls, cows, and pups occupying the breeding rookeries proper, while 



