The Days of a Man 1:1896 



Islands for further observations, and thence to the 

 Kuriles, on three of which rookeries of the Japanese 

 Fur Seal had formerly existed. 



By the end of our stay of nearly three months we 

 had made an elaborate and thorough study of every 

 rookery on the two Pribilofs, supplemented by ample 

 Life on the photogtaphs coveHug the whole season. The ma- 

 PnhiioU ^^jj-g "bulls" or "beachmasters" (500 to 700 pounds 

 in weight) are for the most part on hand in May 

 before the snow banks are all gone. The younger 

 males, "half-bulls" or "bachelors," arrive in late 

 June or early July, the oldest among them earliest. 

 The young of both sexes, those from one to three 

 years old, drift in from the middle of July to the 

 middle of August, a few early arrivals among the 

 yearlings finding places at the foot of the rookeries, 

 where they teach the "pups" to swim. From June 

 20 to July 20 the adult females or "cows" (weigh- 

 ing less than icxd pounds) come straggling back, 

 usually in small groups, most of them about July i,^ 

 a large majority of the young being born about 

 July 5. One of the most marvelous instincts known 

 in nature is that possessed by the mother seals. 

 Leaving in February the latitude of California, 

 they beat their stormy way northward, passing in 

 fog through the narrow straits of Akutan or Unimak, 

 and reach their rookery homes about a week be- 



* In the Russian language the beachmaster is known as Sikatch {Atagh in 

 Aleut); the half-bull or bachelor, from five to eight years of age, as Polusi- 

 katch, folu meaning half; the younger males as Holostiak; the females as Matka, 

 or mother; the little ones as Kotik, or puppy. A beachmaster without a harem 

 is an "idle bull," a status he fiercely and persistently endeavors to change. 



C 562 1 



