THE NORTHERN SEA-BEAR 707 



the finest specimens of their race; and are always fully capable of maintaining pos- 

 session of the stations they select immediately after coming ashore. As a rule, it 

 appears that the males do not reoccupy the same stations year after year, although 

 sometimes a few may do this for a few seasons. ' ' From the time of the first arrival 

 in May, up to the first of June, or as late as the middle of the month," writes Mr. 

 Elliot, "if the weather be clear, is an interval in which everything seems quiet; 

 very few seals are added to the pioneers. By the first of June, however, or there- 

 abouts, the foggy, humid weather of summersets in, and with it the bull-seals come 

 up by hundreds and thousands, and locate themselves in advantageous positions for 

 the reception of the females, which are generally three weeks or a month later." 

 Then comes the great struggle for obtaining and maintaining a position on the 

 land, those males which are the last to arrive, and also those occupying the posts 

 nearest the water's edge, having the greatest difficulties to overcome. Frequently 

 the combats which then take place result in death; while some of the earlier 

 arrivals which have taken up stations near the shore become exhausted by repeated 

 struggles, and have to shift to more inland quarters. "The fighting," says Mr. 

 Elliot, "is mostly or entirely done with the mouth, the opponents seizing each other 

 with the teeth, and clenching the jaws. Nothing but sheer strength can shake them 

 loose and that effect almost always leaves an ugly wound, the sharp canines 

 tearing out deep gutters in the skin and blubber, or shredding the flippers into 

 ribbon strips. ' ' 



During the time that the males are thus engaged in selecting and maintaining 

 their positions, they may be approached from the leeward when asleep so closely as 

 to admit of the bristles on their muzzles being pulled. The adventurous investi- 

 gator is, however, warned that after one such experiment he must beat a hasty 

 retreat, if he would escape an unpleasant mauling from the animal's teeth. 



At this period the males give vent to four distinct cries, namely, a hoarse, 

 resonant, long, and loud roar; a low, gurgling growl; a kind of hissing, chuckling, 

 piping whistle, which must be heard to be recognized; and a kind of spitting sound 

 and action, which is the most characteristic of all. The females, on the other hand, 

 have only a kind of bleating cry, used merely to attract the attention of the cubs; 

 while the call of the latter is still more sheep-like. Indeed, it is stated that some 

 sheep imported into St. George's were constantly misled by the cries of the females 

 and young seals into believing that others of their own species were in the neigh- 

 borhood. The seals when on land are extremely impatient of heat, a temperature 

 of 48 being unpleasant to them; while when the thermometer ranges from 55 to 

 60 they appear to suffer great inconvenience. On such occasions they may be 

 seen lying in every conceivable position, industriously fanning themselves with 

 their flippers, sometimes holding the fore-flippers vertically upward as a kind of 

 ventilator, while one or both of the hinder pair are employed as fans. 



From their first arrival until the end of the pairing season, which terminates 

 during the first part of August, all the males which succeed in maintaining their 

 posts never leave them for a single instant; and consequently never partake of 

 either food or water for at least three months, while in some instances this fast 

 endures for upward of four months. During this time they must subsist entirely 



