104 HABITS OF THE ALASKAN SEAL. 



gale ceased the ice remained for nearly a week 

 longer, being ground up in the heavy s\i^ell and 

 . no females could land. A few 'sekatches' tried 

 to 2:0 out to sea but did not succeed. On the 

 10th of June the first females began to hind, but 

 they came slowly, and it was ver}^ late wlien 

 the rookeries began to fill. Very few of the 

 females, no more than one out of twenty or 

 twenty-five, had their young after they came 

 ashore. Nearly all must have lost them in the 

 water, as for many weeks since the ice went 

 away the bodies of young seals have been washed 

 up ])y the sea in thousands. This misfortune I 

 must humbly report to you. It was not the work 

 of man but of God."^ 



lUrtli on kt'li) 



beds imiiossibic. Tlicsc Statements also apply to birth on beds 

 of kelp, or seaweed, for ~a new-born pup would 

 undoubtedly be washed from such a restmg place 

 and perish. Andrew Laing, a seal hunter of long 

 experience, who was examined by Mr. A. R. 

 Milne, collector of the port of Victoria, British 

 Columbia, states on such examination: "I have 

 heard a great deal of talk of females having young 

 on the kelp, too, but I don't think that it is so. 

 Some hunters report of seeing pups off Middle- 

 tons Island, but I think that it is impossible." 



1 Vol. I, p. 86. 



