THE RUSSIAN FUR-SEAL ISLANDS. 67 



u]) bravely witliout retreating, eveu agaiust a uumber of men, but it is also true tbat 

 a good mauy of tbeiu do not. Lest tbe more cowardly conduct of some bulls should 

 be charged to an alleged lack of vitality in those of the present generation, I will only 

 quote what I wrote immediately after my visit to the North Keef Rooliery, Bering 

 Island, on June 5, 1883: 



liotween 200 aud 300 old l>iills wltc scattered all over the ground, some sleeping, son)e lighting; 

 others rose up, somewhat uneasy at our approach ; others, again, gallo])ed away as fast as their short feet 

 would carry them, jilnngiug headlong into the water. A few would make a bold stand for some 

 moiuents and roar at us, but they .'loon turned, seeking to escape. None of those we approached very 

 closely would keep their position. 



1 may cite another instance from a date much later in the season, but yet at a 

 time when the females requii-ed the full attention of the bulls and on a rookery where 

 the latter were plentiful ;ind vigorous. The observation was made in Sikatchinskaya 

 Bay, I'alata Kookery, Copper Island. Mr. Grebnitski had landed on a rock in the 

 rookery to take a couple of photographs, while I, with the men, remained in the boat. 

 The following is an abstract from my diary of August 3, 1S95: 



It was a sight never to be forgotten. The females from all around rushed into the water pell- 

 mell, while the old bulls were running to and fro trying to keep them back, though in some cases 

 taking the panic themselves and following the example of the females, who made the water fairly 

 boil around the lioat by their jumping. On the nearest rocks hundreds of black pups were huddled 

 together as close as they could stand, fearing to go into deep water; but finally driven into it by the 

 advance of the photographing party, they swam with the utmost ease. Of all the many seals cover- 

 ing the rocks around us when we first arrived, only two kept their places. These were an old bull 

 and a matka in heat. Our boat was lying within 20 feet of them, yet they did not mind us, and the 

 (onrtiug — tlie female did the courting — went on, although our presence evidently acted somewhat 

 ilcpressingly on the male, who anxiously kept an eye upon us, while yet unwilling to leave the female. 

 Occasionally he screwed up enough courage to face us and roar defiantly, but as we approached to 

 within 10 feet and I got up in the boat to fire my camera at him, he suddenly thought that discretion 

 is the better part of valor, and plumped headlong into the water on the other side of the rock. Ho 

 came out and up on the rock, however, a few minutes later and shook the water out of his fur, but 

 the female had apparently become disgusted with him, for, in spite of our retreating, she went into 

 the water shortly after he had returned to her. He then also left for good. 



DO ALL BACHELORS HAUL OUT? 



The general impression, as derived both from the printed reports and oral com- 

 munications, seems to be that the vast majority, if not all, of the bachelors haul out 

 on the beaches during the season. It would, of course, be impossible to say whether 

 each individual bachelor does liaul out at least once during the season, or whether 

 some of them stay in the water throughout the entire year, but my observations lead 

 me to believe that only a smaller portion of the whole body of bachelors haul out at 

 any one time. That a good many of the seals in the water in the immediate neighbor 

 hood of the rookeries are bachelors, I know from personal observation, for the two 

 sexes are more easily distinguished at a distance while in the water than on the rocks. 

 These probably all haul out at some time or another. But the question is, does the 

 bulk of the bachelors met with on the feeding-grounds and far away from the rook- 

 eries during the breeding season also haul out '? I am inclined to believe that they 

 do not, for tlie following reason: 



While it is true that the great rookery on Bering Island was never before " raked 

 and scraped" for the last bachelor .seal as it was during the past season, yet it is not 

 denied that a similar difficulty in gathering the requisite number of killables has been 



