354 THE FUR SEALS OF THE PRIUILOF ISLANDS. 



Artel, tlie iiiHux of yotuiy liulls is iiiarlu'd. Tlie westeru part of this rookery now 

 contains 55 barenis. Tbe count on .luly U gave 51 liarenis, S(!7 cows. Tlie previous 

 uucouuted portion of tlie rookery coiitaius 'M bulls witb cows. Allowing for tlie 

 tliinning out of luireins, this would make tbe fiinncr estimate of '2,100 cows iu)t far from 

 correct, ("olonel Murray finds to day a total of 225 harems on North rookery.' He 

 saw one bull copulating today. lie also reports seeing a dead piii) on East rookery, 

 and Professor Thompson saw 2 ])Ui)s, supjiosed to be drowned. 



It is ajipareiit that the mortality among pups at the present age is small unless 

 they are drowned' by a heavy gale. They are tough enough to stand knocking about, 

 and, moreover, have such fear of a bull that they keeii out of his way. 



I'ups are crawling about the rocks and high up the cliffs. C)ne lies dead at the 

 foot of a clifl', where he has evidently fallen from above. Pups are jilaying freely in 

 the water. 



At the east end of North rookery are three harems which were not there when 

 the first count was made. They aie around young bulls. It is evident that with 

 young bulls at the rear of every harem and at the water's edge there is little chance 

 of cows escaping impregnation. 



A bull was seen to act toward a seal among the bachelors as though it were a cow. 

 A hirge patch of excrement was seen on the hauling ground, indicating a recent meal 

 by some seal. 



Hulls still take an interest in their harems and there is some (luarreling. A 

 number of cows frightened into the wafer were watched and found to return to a 

 harem within a short time. The bulls below offered do opposition. 



On the stones of the gully, and on the hillside just above, leading to the eastern 

 hauling grouud of North rookery are many gray lichens. Ten years ago thousands 

 of seals clambered over these stones to the hill above, and some still cdimb there. 

 The spaci^s between the stones are tilled with the characteristic slime of the hauling 

 grouud, black and slipiiery. The lichens are growing aud the grass covers the ground, 

 which has not been worn bare this year, although some seals climl) up daily aud lie 

 abaut at all times. 



JULY 31. 



Dr. Jordan visited Gorbatch in the morning, and in the afternoon, in coiii|)any 

 with Dr. Voss, Mr. Stanley-ISrowu, and Mr. Clark, made experiments with a view to 

 identifying the virgin females. 



Weather clear; wind from southeast, with heavy surf; thermometer 40; barometer 

 30.55. 



GORBATCH ROOKERY. 



The dead cow on the Zoltoi end of (rorbatch was skinned. iShe (Nintained an 

 unboru pup and had been bitten in the small of the back, probably by a bull. This 

 bite was the cause of death. She had probably beeu wedged among the rocks by 

 the surf. 



'A count of harems at tbis date, after many of tlio regular liareni masters .are gone, and when 

 the young hall' bulls ami idle bulls art- outeriiig tlie brooding grounds, is niiinit'estly misleading. Tlio 

 division of thr siuglo haroin of loo cows into 1( harems shows how the idle bulls ha\o incroased the 

 harems. 



-See later observations. Very lew pups are drowned in the surf, even of the soverest gules. 



