REPORT OF BRITISH COMMISSIONERS. 83 



The landing of gravid females does not usually cease till about the 

 20tli or 25tli July, and in certain years has been continued much later 

 by females which have evidently beeu served unusually late in the pre- 

 vious season. 



280. All this time the bulls jealously keep the females they have 

 secured within the boundaries of their particular harems, but about the 

 end of July, or early in August, the breeding rookeries begin to lose 

 their compact character. The beach-masters, or many of them, return 

 to the sea, or haul out here or there on the beaches, while younger males 

 crowd upon the rookeries, and the females continue going and coming 

 between the sea and their young on shore. Before the middle of 

 August a large proportion of the females are at all times to be found 

 swimming and disporting themselves in the water close to the rookery 

 ground, and the young collect in masses along the edges of the shore 

 and rocks, from which they make short excursions into the sea. 



281. About the middle of August, most of the seals found upon the 

 Pribylofl" Islands become what is known as " stagey," in consequence 

 of tlie shedding of the hair and under-fur. This condition appears to 

 continue, more or less definitely, for about six weeks. The fact, else- 

 where mentioned, that practically no "stagey " skins are ever taken at 

 sea, appears not only to show that the change in pelage is rendered 

 definite and well marked by prolonged resort to the land, but also that 

 during this period the seals frequenting the islands do not go to any 

 great distance from their shores. 



282. In October the seals begin generally to leave the islands, the 

 oldest and strongest being the first to go. i^early all the bachelors, or 

 holluschickie, have left before the 10th November, and before the end of 

 that month all the pups of the year, which have now changed the first 

 black coat for a grey one, also go. A very few seals, however, gener- 

 ally linger on into December, and in exceptional years have been known 

 to stay on into January and even into February. 



283. The seals resorting to the Commander Islands, whicb belong, at 

 least in the main, to a difierent migration-area, and reach the islands 

 from the south-westward, are thought by those acquianted with both 

 these and the Pribyloft" Islands to be somewhat later in the date of their 

 arrival than those of the latter islands. It is stated that here as on the 

 Pribyloff Islands the seals have been later than usual in coming in recent 

 years. In 1891, we found the "stagey" season was just beginning on 

 the Commander Islands on the 1st September. The first killing of 

 seals took place on Copper Island in the same year on the 22nd June. 

 Generally speaking, some seals can be found to kill on this island (in 

 which the dates are slightly in advance of those in Behring Island) as 

 early as the 1st June. 



(E.) — Ages at which Males reach Virility, and the Females produce Young. 



284. The ages at whicli the male and female seals respectively reach 

 maturity and become able to take part in the procreation of their species, 

 as well as the number of years during which the male remains virile 

 and the female fertile, are questions of very practical importance from 

 two points of view. In the first place, they enable us to trace out the 

 effect of the killing of seals of special ages or sexes at certain times, 

 and, in the second, to estimate the time necessary for any improvement 

 in numbers to follow from the sparing of the younger seals on the 



rookeries. 

 51 285. Veniaminov arrived at the conclusion that the female gives 



birth to its first young in its fifth year, and bases a somewhat 



