76 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



lively now ami made a furious rcsistame wlicu Abraham Badaef made an attempt to grab it by the 

 hiud legs. This he had to be very careful about, for a bite of eveu such a little fellow— ]>robably not 

 8o very many weeks old — might l>e serious enough ; but he finally succeeded and carried the pup oft' to 

 the beach, where it was left to take care of itself. 



I watched the handling of the seals very carefully in order to ascertain the amount of injury 

 they might receive during the affair. The natives were certainly not very jiarticular, much less so 

 than those on St. Paul Island when Mr. True, Mr. Stanley-lirown, and the Treasury agent were 

 observing them, l)Ht I can not say that I Wiis much impressed with the severity of the hurt that could 

 have been intlicted. The animals are as soft and pliable as cats, and while there is a good deal of 

 excitement, even panic, and the wildest possible scramble one over the other, none of them seemed to 

 mind it in the least. The whole mass of more than a dozen females would occasionally be piled uj) on 

 top of a little mite of a pup, but he would immediately pick himself up upon being released and 

 plunge into the seething mass with renewed vigor. The scramble was very suggestive of a ganu^ of 

 football, and I feel certain that the seals were less injured externally and internally than the average 

 football player; and as for the exertion, excitement, and fright of the drive having any influence upon 

 the procreative jiowers of the bulls, as well might it be asserted that the football players imi)air their 

 virility and render themselves imjiotent by playing the game. 



Mauy incidents might be quoted to show how little the seals mind the drive and 

 how soon they forget its hardships. On Bering Island 1 have repeatedly observed 

 half-bulls in a drive trying to mount females iu heat during intervals of rest. Another 

 observation is so highly interesting in many ways that I quote it from my diary of 

 July 15, 1895, North Rookery, Bering Island, as follows: 



This evening I made a very suggestive observation. While working along the escarpment jnst 

 west of the salt-house, I came across a small flock of seals left over from yesterday's drive. They had not 

 returned to the sea, but had located on the very extreme northern point of the escarpment, a consider- 

 able distance from the rookery [about 250 yards] and 30 feet above the sea. I was quite surprised at 

 finding the Hock to be a '"harem" consisting of 1 bull and about 20 females. I could not count 

 their number exactly, as I did not want to disturb them, but there were about 20 females, and I heard 

 at least 1 pup, though I did not see it. I took up my position some distance off and watched them. 

 Several of the females were in luat and were alternately teasing the bull, getting him by the throat, 

 but he was kept too busy running around trying to keep the harem together, as some of the females 

 were evidently anxious to return to the rookery. He, on the other hand, was plainly well satisfied 

 with the location and intended to hold it. * * * Now, these animals were driven yesterday and 

 not let go until after they had leached the killing-grounds [only 220 yards away from their present 

 location]. h\ view of the above observation, it seems absurd to assume that the driving had injured 

 them in the least. Nor can this bull be accused of sleepiness — yet bulls are few on the rookery — for 

 he was kept very busy indeed. 



His vigilance did him no good, however, for the females escai)ed to the rookery 

 during the night, and the place was entirely deserted when I visited it next morning. 



It is certainly very significant that on Bering Island over a thousand pups are 

 yearly driven to tlie killing ground, there to be released, without any visible harm 

 coming to them worth mentioning. If these newly born seals can stand to be driven 

 three-fourths of a mile from Ki.shotchuaya and to be repeatedly trampled upon by 

 the larger ones jiiliiig up four high, or more, on top of them, it stands to reason that 

 the vigorous hohistiaki — or even the females — as a whole can sutier but little injury 

 from the same cause. 



Before leaving this subject it may be well to recall the following points: 



On Bering Island the drives are easy, while on Co])per Island they are exceed- 

 ingly severe. Yet on Copper Island the bulls and half-bulls are plentiful, while ou 

 Bering Island they are comparatively scarce. The severity of the driving, therefore, 

 does not seem to bear any relation to the relative plenty or scarcity of mature bulls 

 on the rookeries. 



