THE EUSSIAN FUK-SEAL ISLANDS. 71 



EFFECT OF DRIVING. 



One of the qiie.stions to which I paid special attention during the past summer was 

 that of the etleet of driving- upon tlie vitality of the seals. It has been variously 

 :is>ertc'tl tliat the repeated driving of the male seals on the Pribylof Islands has 

 i( uiUed in the weakening of tlie procreative power of the bulls and the consequent 

 degeneration and partial decrease in the number of seals on the rookeries. It has 

 also been hinted that the diflference in the methods of driving the seals on the Priby- 

 lofs and on the Commander Islands might account for the apparent lesser diminution 

 of the seals on the latter islands. The question is, therefore, one of the utmost 

 iiiii)ortance, and it was in order to specially make a direct comparison between the 

 methods employed on the American and the Russian side that I asked to be enabled 

 to land on St. Paul Island and witness a drive there before proceeding to the Com- 

 mander Islands. It is, therefore, pertinent to submit a desci'iptiou of this drive, which, 

 thanks to the assistance of the agents of the company and of the United States 

 Treasury, I had an opportunity to follow on June 26, 18115. 



It would, of course, be hazardous to base any far-reaching conclusions upon one 

 single drive. As Mr. F. W. True was going to follow up similar studies on St. Paul 

 Island during the whole of the following season, lie kindly assented to accompany me 

 on the present occasion, so that he might afterwards inform me how the drive we were 

 going to take part in might compare for severity with those which were to follow later, 

 and which I myself would not be able to inspect. 



At 9 p. m. on June 2.5, in company with Mr. Stan ley- Bi'own, the general agent of 

 the com]>any, we started for Polavina liookery in a buckboard drawn by a pair of strong 

 mules. The road was to a great extent still covered with snow and water, compelling 

 the driver to pick his way in the dark over hills and marshes. After a trying ride of 

 two hours, during wliich it was a wonder that we were not upset and spilled by the 

 roadside or into the water which surrounded us on all sides, we arrived safely at the 

 hut, where we found a party of nine Aleuts who had preceded us. After a fitful 

 slumber on the benches in front of the cooking stove, we turned out with our gang at 2 

 o'clock the next morning and proceeded to the haulingground, where we could hardly 

 discern the various objects in the hazy gray light of the early morning. 1 quote now 

 from ray diary, written a few hours later: 



We move stealthily along the margin of the breedins-ground, which is occupied by angrily bellow 

 ing bulls, a few — a very few — females, and still fewer pnps, cutting oft' .a small herd of bachelor seals 

 that are skirting the inner edge of the breeding-grounds. At the end of the latter we make a sudden 

 spurt, Mr. True and I running at full speed with the Aleuts for the water's edge, thus cutting oft" 

 another crowd of bachelors— I estimate in all about 1,000. Then the driving begins by dividing the 

 herd in two (unintentionally) uneven sections, which are driven easily, without special urging, over 

 very ommi ground. 



The seals are of very unequal sizes, there being qnite a number of large half-bulls in the flock. 

 In driving, the various sizes become somewhat sorted, inasmuch as the younger and more agile seals 

 keep well to the frout, while the large and fat half-bulls bring up the rear. Occasionally a few of 

 these are cut out and left behind — probably in all about 50. No other cutting out or culling is under- 

 taken while the driving is goiug on, and is practically impossible as long as the seals are driven in as 

 large flocks as these. On the other hand, the driving gang is too short-handed to man.age a large 

 number of small sections, as on the Commander Isl.ands. After a moderate drive overland for about 

 three-quarters of an hour, the seals enter a series of shallow lakes, and now the progress is rapid. 

 At 5 a. m. the herd is halted just outside the salt-house at Rooky Point, and the drive is over. 



It is noticeable that the seals are nearly as fresh at the lud of the drive as at the beginning. The 

 younger seals are quite active ; they walk about unconcernedly, and stand well up on their legs, while 



