THE FUR SEAL INDUSTRY OF ALASKA. 335 



leading the way, straying far back the same number instantly covering twice and thrice as much 

 ground as they did the day or week before, when they lay in solid masses and were marshaled on 

 the rookery ground proper. 



There is no more difficulty in surveying these seal margins during this week or ten days in 

 July, than there is in drawing sights along and around the curbs of a stone fence surrounding a 

 field. The breeding seals remain perfectly quiet under your eyes all over the rookery, and almost 

 within your touch, everywhere on the outside of their territory that you may stand or walk. The 

 margins of massed life, which 1 have indicated on the topographical surveys of these breeding 

 grounds of Saint Paul and Saint George, are as clean cut and as well defined against the soil and 

 vegetation as is the shading on my maps. There is not much difficulty in making the surveys, and 

 in making them correctly. 



Now, with a knowledge of the superficial area of these breeding grounds, the way is clearly 

 open to a very interesting calculation as to the number of fur seals upon them. I am well aware 

 of the fact, when I enter upon this discussion, that I cannot claim perfect accuracy, but, as 

 shadowing my plan of thought and method of computation, 1 propose to present every step in the 

 processes which have guided me to the result. 



ROOKEEY SPACE OCCUPIED BY SINGLE SEALS. When the adult males and females, fifteen 

 or twenty of the latter to every one of the former, have arrived upon the rookery, I think an area 

 a little less than 2 square feet for each female may be considered as the superficial space required 

 by each animal with regard to its size and in obedience to its habits ; and this limit may safely 

 be said to be over the mark. Now, every female, or cow, on this 2 square feet space, doubles her- 

 self by bringing forth her young ; and in a few days or a week, perhaps, after its birth, the cow 

 takes to the water to wash and feed, and is not back on this allotted space one-fourth of the time 

 again during the season. In this way, is it not clear that the females almost double their number 

 on the rookery grounds, without causing the expansion of the same beyond the limits that would 

 be actually required, did they not bear any young at all I For every 100,000 breeding seals, 

 there will be found more than 85,000 females, and less than 15,000 males ; and in a few weeks after 

 the landing of these females, they will show for themselves; that is, for this 100,000, fully 180,000 

 males, females, and young instead, on the same area of ground occupied previously to the birth of 

 the pups. 



It must be borne in mind, that perhaps 10 or 12 per cent, of the entire number of females were 

 yearlings last season, and come up on to these breeding grounds as virgins for the first time during 

 this season as two-year old cows ; they of course bear no young. 



The males being treble and quadruple the physical bulk of the females, require about 4 feet 

 square for their use of this same rookery ground, but as they are less than one- fifteenth the num- 

 ber of the females, much less, in fact, they therefore occupy only one-eighth of the space over the 

 breeding ground, where we have located the supposed 100,000 ; this surplus area of the males is 

 also more than balanced and equalized by the 15,000 or 20,000 virgin females which come on to 

 this rookery for the first time to meet the males. They come, rest a few days or a week, and 

 retire, leaving no young to show their presence on the ground. 



Taking all these points into consideration, and they are features of fact, I quite safely calculate 

 upon an average of 2 square feet to every animal, big and little, on the breeding grounds, as the 

 initial point upon which to base an intelligent computation of the entire number of seals before us. 

 Without following this system of enumeration, a person may look over these swarming myriads 

 between Southwest Point and Novostohnah, guessing vaguely and widely, at any figure from one 

 million up to ten or twelve millions, as has been done repeatedly. How few people know what a 



