82 REPORT OF BRITISH COMMISSIONERS. 



ditions, and even the most favourable conditions, are by no means con- 

 fined to tlie Pribyloff and Commander Islands, wide rocky beaches 

 overlooked by sea-cliffs, and with all the characteristics of those of Cop- 

 per Island, are found on many of the islands of the Aleutian cliain, and 

 though low plateaux bordering the shores, or gentle slopes rising from 

 the beaches are not so common, there are plenty of them to be found 

 in different parts of this great series of islands, some of which, as for 

 instance the Semitchi Islands, almost precisely resemble St. Paul in 

 physical characters. Again, on St. Matthew and Hall Islands, locali- 

 ties well suited for breeding places of the fur-seal occur, but as already 

 indicated, the inhabited character of the Aleutian chain, and the long 

 continuance of ice about the St. Matthew Islands probably explain the 

 absence of rookeries in these places. 



(D.) — Annual Progress of Events in Seal Life on the Breeding Islands. 



277. In order to follow out the various questions connected with the 

 life history of the fur-seal, it is necessary to bear in mind the main 

 points involved in that important part of each year during which it 

 resorts to the breeding islands. A summary of the facts in this con- 

 nection will be given here. 



So far as regards the Pribyloff" Islands, the fullest details under this 

 head may be found in the works of several writers, particularly in those 

 of Bryant, Elliott, and Maynard. There is very little room for differ- 

 ence of opinion as to the main facts, and most of the points in which 

 divergence is found may be explained by the tendency to give too rigid 

 dates and too precise an aspect to the various events and changes; or to 

 the circumstance that with the growing depletion of males upon the 

 islands and its attendant results, the dates and habits formerly observed 

 by the seals have also, to some extent, changed from year to year. It 

 will be sufficient to give a general and very brief resume of the princi- 

 pal events of the breeding season based chiefly on the combined obser- 

 vations of the writers above cited, and afterwards to refer in somewhat 

 greater detail to a few important points connected with these and with 

 the general organization of seal life on the islands. 



278. The first seals to arrive at the islands in sj)ring are the full- 

 50 grown males or "bulls" of about six years old and upwards. A 

 few stragglers sometimes reach the islands as early as the mid- 

 dle of April, and from about the 1st May to the 10th or 15th June they 

 continue to arrive, but in much larger numbers towards the latter part 

 of this period. On arrival, these full-grown males, generally known as 

 "beachmasters," or "seecatchie," take up stations on the old rookery 

 grounds to await the coming of the females. 



With the main body of full grown bulls a large proportion of the 

 "bachelors," or younger males, also appear. 



279. The time of arrival and landing of the gravid females appears 

 to depend directly on the approaching close of their period of gesta- 

 tion. A few usually land as early as the 1st June, but it is, under nor- 

 mal circumstances, between the middle of June and the middle of July 

 that the great body of females come ashore, and at or about the same 

 time most of the yearlings of both sexes, or such of them as resort to 

 the islands, also generally arrive, though it appears that in some years, 

 at least, the main body of seals of this class lands somewhat later. 



On landing, the females, or " cows," are taken possession of by the 

 old bulls, and very soon after landing the young are born. Within a 

 few days the females are again in heat and under normal circumstances, 

 with an adequate supply of virile males, the female is at once served. 



