minutes. ' 



SEAL LIFE ON THE PKIBILOF ISLANDS. 167 



inutes. Until be is almost six weeks old a pup can not live in the 

 water. lie then begins to try the water, never going' intentionally 

 beyond his depth : soon he becomes bolder and strikes out, using at first 

 only his tlippers; then lie grows more and more expert, until finally the 

 sea' alongshore is his frequent abiding place. The young seal, there- 

 fore, up to the time it learns to swim, is a land animal in no way a 

 toll-fledged amphibian; and it requires four months of suckling by its 

 mother on the land before it becomes able to shift for itself and is 

 abandoned by its parents. 



DARKEN FKMALKS. 



Whenever a female ceases to breed or is barren she hauls up with 

 the bachelors, and no longer goes on the breeding grounds; she, how- 

 ever, can be easily distinguished, and whenever one became mixed in 

 a drive the natives pointed her out to me in 1872-1874. The whole 

 number of barren cows was then very inconsiderable. 



INATTACHED MALES. 



Behind the harems there were always a number of idle and vigorous 

 bulls in 1872-1874, who were unable to obtain any consorts, but they had 

 to do severe battle to maintain their position at all. 



DISORGANIZATION OF THE UOOKKKIB8. 



Between the 20th of July, when the rutting season closes, and the 5th 

 or 8th of August, the harems have changed from their methodical com- 

 pact disposition on the rookeries. The old bulls begin to leave; the 

 pups are gathered into pods or groups. The cows, pups, and idle bulls 

 before mentioned now take possession of the rookeries in a disordered 

 manner, together with a large contingent of the bachelor seals, who have 

 not thus far been permitted to land on the breeding grounds by the other 

 males, By the middle of August three-fourths of the cows spend the 

 greater part of their time in the water, only coining on shore at irregular 

 intervals to nurse their young. The food of the fur seals is mainly fish, 

 squids and crustaceans, and mothers, while nursing their young, I am 

 satisfied, go great distances in Bering Sea for this food 50, 100, and even 

 200 miles away from the Pribilof Islands for that subsistence. 



SWIMMING OF SEALS. 



I am unable to state positively how rapidly a seal can swim, but [ 

 have seen squads of young bachelors follow the revenue cutter, Reli- 

 ance, upon which I was, swimming alongside and around the vessel for 

 hours, when she was moving at the rate of 14 knots an hour. My opinion 

 is that the bachelors and those cows which, are not heavy with pups can 

 travel through the water from 18 to 20 miles an hour for many consecu- 

 tive hours without pausing to rest. 



HOLLUSCHICKIE, OR BACHELOR SEALS. 



The male fur seals under the age of 6 years are not allowed to land 

 upon the breeding grounds by the older and stronger males, and so are 

 compelled to herd by themselves. These seals are called holluschickie 

 or bachelors, and the places which they occupy on land are called haul- 

 ing grounds, in contradistinction to the breeding rookeries. It is from 

 this class of seals that the killable seals are selected. 



