8 

 ST. PAUL ISLAND. 



Ketavie. 



The rookery of Ketavie lies on the eastern side, near the south end of St. Paul Island, 

 on the opposite side to, but within a short walk of, the village. It runs along the shore 

 for nearly a mile of coast-line, beginning some 300 yards from Ketavie Point, along the 

 northern shore of a crescent-shaped bay, and then extends from Ketavie Point due north 

 to another point forming an artificial boundary between it and Lukannon. The first 

 portion south of the point occupies a steep beach, shingly and rocky. The northern 

 portion consists of straight stretches interrupted by small coves or bays, of which the last 

 one is next to Lukannon, and forms a natural amphitheatre. Close to the water's edge the 

 shore consists of an entablature of columnar basalt, above which a shelving slope, gravelly 

 and stony, leads with or without bolder interruptions to the level ground above. The chief 

 hauling-ground lies near the south end of the rookery, and is approached from seaward in 

 the neighbourhood of Ketavie Point. The rookery affords peculiar facilities for close 

 inspection, and the counts made upon it are of particular importance. 



We visited Ketavie for the first time on the 13th July. In the little amphitheatre- 

 shaped bay already mentioned I then counted 500 cows, and Dr. Stejneger, counting 

 independently, made out 501. Taking the bay and a little tract adjoining', 1 counted 

 thirty-five harems with from 1 cow to 80 (the next largest being r l~--, and the next 53), and 

 with a total number of 78 i, giving the large average to each of 22'1. There were rather 

 more than twenty idle bulls within this area. 



On the next portion, which consists of a broken terrace of columnar basalt, with a 

 narrow sandy acclivity behind, I found the first twenty-five harems to include 395 cows 

 (1 to 56), giving an average of 15'2. The further counts made on this occasion need not 

 lie recapitulated. They were not complete, and only give an idea of the average size of 

 the harems. 



My photograph of the middle portion of Ketavie, looking towards Ketavie Point 

 (No. 16, 13th July, 18!)6), coincides in position with that of Mr. Macoun (No. 16, 

 25th July, 1892) and that of Mr. Tovvnsend (No. 14, 20th July, 1895). 1 cannot detect 

 any appreciable difference in the number of seals represented in the three. 



The small bay already twice alluded to is beautifully depicted in Mr. Townsend's 

 photograph No. 13 (20th July, 1895), and is also very clearly portrayed in my No. 15 

 (13th July, 1896). It seems to me that there are actually considerably more seals figured 

 in the latter picture. However, I do not wish to press this point too much, for it may he 

 that at the later date a larger number of cows were feeding at sea. But, on the other hand, 

 Mr. Townsend's photograph does not show any great preponderance of pups, and at the 

 date when it was taken the older females have not, as a matter of fact, betaken themselves 

 in large proportion to the water. My companion picture (No. 116), taken on the 

 8th August, 1896, shows, however, that by that time a partial exodus has taken place, and 

 the spot is black with a crowd consisting almost wholly of pups grouped around the bulls. 

 Moreover, the photograph at this last date shows the rookery dispersed much higher up 

 the ascent, the earlier photographs mine and Mr. Townsend's alike showing the rookery 

 in its earlier, more restricted condition. 



Whether or not there he any reasonable grounds for suspecting an increase, I am 

 perfectly certain in my own mind that there is no evidence at all of recent diminution in 

 this rookery. 



On the same date (j3th July) of our first visit Colonel Murray counted 190 harems 

 and 100 idle bulls (according to the list communicated to me by him on the 7th September). 

 At the average rate adopted by us of 17'3 cows to a harem at this period, that number 

 would give 3,217 cows. The figures adopted by Dr. Jordan (Preliminary Report, p. 16} 

 show 182 harems, and (at the same average) 3,152 cows, an unimportant difference. In 

 1895 Colonel Murray set the total at 200 harems and 5U idle bulls. 



It was in this rookery, after noticing the apparently disproportionate number of pups, 

 that Dr. Jordan initiated the crucial experiment ol counting the latter. The count of 

 living pups on Ketavie was performed on .the loth August, and shewed the surprising 

 number of 6,04'.). This figure represents an increase of 91 per cent, over what we had at 

 first believed to exist on the basis of Dr. Jordan's entire estimate, or of bS per cent, on 

 the basis of Colonel Murray's. 



Note. Dr. Jordan's figures for the other rookeries are calculated by adding 75 per 

 cent, to these furnished by the count of harems in the earlier part of the season after 



