264 OUR ARCTIC PROVINCE. 



been distributed quite equally about the Pribylov hauling-grounds. 

 Although the natives say that they think the cutting off of the ani- 

 mal's ear gives the water such access to its head as to cause its 

 death, yet I noticed that those examples which we had recognized 

 by this auricular mutilation, were normally fat and well developed. 

 Their theory does not appeal to my belief, and it certainly requires 

 confirmation. 



These experiments would tend to prove very cogently and con- 

 clusively that when the seals approach the islands in the spring 

 they have nothing in their minds but a general instinctive apprecia- 

 tion of the fitness of the land as a whole, and no special fondness 

 or determination to select any one particular spot, not even the 

 place of their birth. A study of my map of the distribution of 

 the seal-life on St. Paul, clearly indicates that the landing of the 

 seals on the respective rookeries is influenced greatly by the direc- 

 tion of the wind at the time of their approach to the islands in the 

 spring and early summer. The prevailing airs, blowing, as they do 

 at that season, from the north and northwest, carry far out to sea 

 the odor of the old rookery flats, together with a fresh scent of 

 the pioneer bulls which have located themselves on these breeding 

 grounds three or four weeks in advance of their kind. The seals 

 come up from the great North Pacific, and hence it will be seen 

 that the rookeries of the south and southeastern shores of St. Paul 

 Island receive nearly all the seal-life, although there are miles of 

 perfectly eligible ground at Nahsayvernia or north shore. To settle 

 this matter beyond all argument, however, I know is an exceedingly 

 difficult task, since the identification of individuals, from one season 

 to another, among the hundreds of thousands, and even millions, 

 that come under your eye on one of these great rookeries, is well- 

 nigh impossible. From the time of the first arrival in May up to the 

 beginning of June, or as late as the middle of that month, if the 

 weather be clear, is an interval in which everything seems quiet. 

 Very few seals are added to the pioneers that have landed, as we 

 have described. About June 1st, however, sometimes a little be- 

 fore, and never much later, the seal-weather the foggy, humid, oozy 

 damp of summer sets in ; and with it, as the gray banks roll up 

 and shroud the islands, old bull-seals swarm from the depths 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 than this date in arrival 



