THE LION AND HIS KIN 83 



But within forty-eight hours of their landing the cows 

 give birth to their " pups." And it is for this purpose, 

 and not for mating, that they come to land. Within a 

 few days of the birth, however, the females are " in use " 

 again. This is the critical period in the life in the rookery. 

 For the bulls now become frenzied with excitement and 

 fight most viciously one with another, each hoping to 

 possess himself of his opponent's harem. Each tries to 

 seize the other by the fore flipper, and, failing in this, 

 the fangs are buried in the back. They hold tenaciously, 

 each trying to force the other to relax his hold ; but 

 commonly this vice-like grip is maintained till the skin 

 gives way, leaving great bleeding rents. Sometimes the 

 contest rages till one or both is fatally wounded. Often 

 during such duels an idle bull, hitherto unable to secure 

 a harem, will rush in and capture that of one of the 

 combatants ! 



In the management of the harem the bull is an adept. 

 Whether he has five cows or fifty, he is, says Dr. Lucas, 

 " master of the situation." His will is law. Not that 

 it is always tamely accepted as such, but the result is 

 the same. If a cow becomes restless, and moves about, 

 a warning growl usually quiets her. If the movement is 

 persisted in and an attempt to escape evident, the bull 

 is up at once with a show of fierceness and in chase. He 

 may simply strike her down with his open mouth. Often 

 in doing so his sharp canines tear a gash in her skin. He 

 may even seize her in his mouth and deliberately throw 

 her, or carry her back into the harem. If the cow thinks 

 she has a chance to get away she may try to outrun him. 

 If she miscalculates the distance he seizes her, after a 

 few swift bounds, by the skin of the back, or by the hind 

 flipper, and tosses her, often torn and bleeding, into the 



6* 



