THE RUSSIAN FUR-SEAL ISLANDS. 



61 



island is still beset by ice," ' and take np tlie same place as tlie previous year, being 

 extremely fat upon their arrival. They pass most of tlie time sleepinj;-, before the 

 arrival of the females, when the sikatchi tries to get hold of as many as possible for 

 his harem, in which he succeeds not without bloody contests with other males. " From 

 1 to 150 females have been observed with one sikatch, tlie number depending simply 

 upon his bravery. He is the unrestricted lord, the guardian and protector of his 

 liaiem. He takes no food whatever when staying ashore.'' 



The polusikatchi ami hohistiaki arrive later and congregate in large companies 

 upon the grounds which are usually separate and more distant from the sea than the 

 breeding grounds. The females commence to arrive on May 20, rarely on May 21, 

 shortly before giving birth to their single pup, tlie season for the delivery being from 

 the end of May " through the whole of June, and even as late as July 10." The kotiki 

 arrive usually by southerly winds, but not with the same regularity as the others, all 

 not having arrived even by the middle of June, " as there are instances of yearlings 

 having arrived as late as J uly." The sikatcii comes together with the female some time 

 after the birth of the pup, but only once; he "is able to cover from 21 to 2.") females in 

 24 hours." The pups " feed exclusively upon the milk of their mothers until leaving 

 the land. The female never suckles her young while in the water, but coming ashore 

 for that purpose attends her offspring in a resting position." The pvips do not go into 

 the water until they are 30 to 35 days old, becoming familiar with the water when 40 

 to .50 days of age. "The color of the pups wlien born is black, but from September 

 10 changes to gray, the old hair being cast off." The seals leave the island (St. Paul) 

 gradually, lieginiiing about October 5, and always with north and northwest winds, the 

 young ones remaining longest. A few old bulls may occasionally be seen in November, 

 or even December, but none in January or February. "Very rarely 2 or 3 sikatchi 

 show themselves again in March, but always for a very short time only." 



I have thought it worth while to give the above short summary of the natural 

 history as it was known in 1840, since it has been asserted that from tlie time of 

 Steller to about 1870 "the scientific world actually knew nothing definite in regard to 

 the life-history of this valuable animal." Not even the ])ictorial representation of the 

 northern fur-seal in that period was so l)ad as it has been made to appear, as will 

 be plain from ,an inspection of Choris's drawing of a fur-seal rookery on St. Paul, 

 jtublislied in 1822 as pi. xv of his "Voyage pittoresque autour du Monde" (Fol. 

 Paris, 1822) of which 1 append a greatly reduced copy on pi. 50. 



Since Veniaminofs account, no original contributions to the naturnl liistory of the 

 fur .seal, of any magnitude, appeared until tlie studies of Scammon, Bry.ant, and 

 l»articularly Elliott were given to the public in the early seventies. These, with the 



The arrival ut" first Imlls on Bering Island rookeries are reported for a few- jears as follows: 



Oil Copper Islaiiil tin' first Imlls, 7 in number, were ol)serv(^il in IS11.'> on May 1.3. 



