352 THE FUK SEALS OF THK PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 



ARDIGliEN. 



The slide shows coiitiiina] change. There are 58 cows ui) on the flat where the 

 harems of B and C \\ere located. Probably •>■"' of this iiiunber were in P>'s harcni. bnt 

 they stain[)ede by way of C's harem, nnuiy ol' lliem gomj; down over the clitf, but some 

 of them almost immediately returning. On account of tlie stam]»ede of the cows to 

 the harems below it is dillicult to deterudne the status of harems I), E, F, and (!. 



A young (iyear-old bull (Z), noted yesterday as trying to locate himself in the 

 slide, is now up above D and seems very active, lie greatly annoys the cows trying 

 to return to harem 0, dragging them back down the slide as they climb the slippery 

 rocks. One cow has a particularly hard time. She bites him severely in the throat 

 and on the back. The other Ijulls do not seem much incline(l to ta(^kle liim. They are 

 too lazy now. 



A is still under the cliff in liis ]iosition, but has 10 cows. One gets away and is 

 taken up by an idle bull above, lie keeps the cow for a few minutes in the position 

 formerly occupied by X. X has left his [)la(;e and lies by the rock wiiere V used to 

 be. V is down by the brow of the clitf, a little farther along tlnui the ]iosition 

 occii[)ied by an idle liull, which has kept his position from tlie beginning. 



In the harems now contiolled by B there is a little brown animal, very small. She 

 looks very much like what one would expect a virgin cow to be. 



STAMPEDES. 



The question of the stampeding of harems and con.se(iuent injury to the female 

 herd seems an absurdity. It frei|uently becomes necessary to go very close to the 

 harems in order to get to desirable observation points. The cows show evidence of 

 fright, but are. for the most jtart, held in (dieck by the bulls, and as soon as the 

 intruder has passed or conies to rest the seals settle down as if nothing had happened. 

 If the fright is so great, as sometimes liai>pens in these days since the harem .system 

 has relaxed, as to cause the cows to break away to the water, they are invariably 

 found back in their ])laces within a few hours, perhaps within a few minutes. 



The killal)le seals do not come near the rookeries. There is a regularly graded 

 buffer of idle and half-idle bulls on the water front, in the rear, and at each tlank, 

 which ert'ectually prevents the crowding of the bachelors on the harem. Unfortunate 

 individuals, impelled by fi-ight, occasionally try to escape through the harems to the 

 sea. But the injury is to the bachelor cuncerned and no general stampede (^an result. 

 It certainly is not possible to day for the bachelors to get near enougii the harems to 

 occasion any danger of stampeding the cows in getting them, and there is no reason 

 to suppose that conditions are essentially different this year from what they have been 

 in the past. It is generally conceded that there has always been a fringe of idle bulls 

 about the rookeries, and the bachelors have been taken for years from their pieseut 

 hauling grounds, which are wholly distinct from the breeding grounds. 



Later in the season a few stray cows whose pups are dead may take up with 

 young bulls away from the rookeries proper. These may occasionally get into a drive. 

 One such female appeared in the drive from Zoltoi on the -5th instant. But it is not 

 likely that such cases occur freiiuently, never early in the season. .V cow so driven is 

 not hurt in the least. The cow from Zoltoi was found at a distance from the rookery. 

 She was herding with the bachelors, probably because she had lost her pup. 



