ALASKA. 149 



The leave evideuces of tlieir beiug on these great repro- 

 ductive fields, chiefly ou the rookeries, such as hundreds of 

 the dead carcasses of those of them that have been infirm, sick, 

 killed, or >Yhich have crawled off to die from death-wounds re- 

 ceived in some struggle for a harem ; and over these decaying, 

 putrid bodies, the living, old and young, clamber and i)atter, 

 and by this constant stirring up of putrescent matter give rise 

 to an exceedingly' disagreeable and far-reaching "funk," which 

 has been, by all the writers who have spoken ou the subject, re- 

 ferred to as the smell which these animals have in rutting. If 

 these creatures have any such odor peculiar to them when in 

 this condition, I will frankly confess that I am unable to dis- 

 tinguish it from the fumes which are constantly being stirred 

 up and rising out from these decaying carcasses of old seals 

 and the many pups which have been killed accidentally by the 

 old bulls while fighting with and charging back and forth 

 against one another. 



They, however, have a peculiar smell when they are driven 

 and get heated ; their steaming breath-exhalations possess a 

 disagreeable, faint, sickly tone, but it can by no means be con- 

 founded with what is universally understood to be the rutting- 

 odor among animals. The finger rubbed ou a little fur-seal 

 blubber will smell very much like that which is appreciated in 

 their breath coming from them when driven, only stronger. 

 Both the young and old fur-seals have this same breath-smell 

 at all seasons. 



By the end of October and the 10th of November the great 

 mass of the "holluschukie" have taken their departure; the 

 few that remain from now until as late as the snow and ice will 

 permit them to do, in and after December, are all down by the 

 water's edge, and hauled up almost entirely on the rocky 

 beaches only, deserting the sand. The first snow falling makes 

 them uneas}', as also does rain-fall. 1 have seen a large haul- 

 ing ground entirely deserted after a rainy day and night by its 

 hundreds of thousands of occupants. The falling drops spat- 

 ter and beat the sand into their eyes, fur, &c., I presume, and 

 in this way make it uncomfortable for them. 



The weather in which the far-seal delights is cool, moist, 

 foggy, and thick enough to keep the sun always obscured so as 

 to cast no shadows. Such weather, continued for a few weeks 

 in June and July, brings them up from the sea by millions ; 

 but, as I have before said, a little sunlight and the temperature 

 as high as 50° to 55^, will send them back from the hauling- 



