3.S4 THE FUK SEALS oF '1 HE PKIIiU.OE ISLANDS. 



AWDKrUEN 



Oil Ardigueu B is found to luive moved down otl' the llat with his 7 cows. He 

 lijis evidt'utly been down tiiere since the time lie and C were stampeded. is on the 

 tiat still witli 24 eows. A has (i cows on a shelf under the bank. There is a new bull 

 from the top in a position between B's old place and A's original place. He has '^ 

 cows. V has cows. X is down in the slide with <l cows. The water bull Z has 

 probably been driven out. 



MARUNICHEN. 



At Maruuiclien on North Shore a herd of about 100 hair seals is found hauled up 

 on the sand by the sea. A bull and a cow were shot and skiuued for museum 

 specimens. 



The true seal lies horizontally on land. It can raise its head only slightly and 

 barely touches the ground with its fore tlippers, which are short and armed with 

 claws, only the hand (carpus and metacarpus) being exserted. It can not stand uj) 

 as the fur seal does, becau.se it can not touch its fore tlippers to the ground. The hind 

 tlii)peis are short and stout, only the tarsus and metatarsus being exserted. The tail 

 is llat, much larger than in the fur seal. The pup, born in May on the ice, is now 

 weaned and swims about with a cooing call. The male seal is half larger than the 

 female. The hair seal can move on land only by the iiudnlation of the body. It can 

 not raise its liead or belly from the ground. 



The female hair seal had some crabs in its stomach, also many beaks of a large 

 variety of squid, many ascarid worms, and several large soft bodies, which proved to 

 b(i the axis of the arms of cuttlelish or sijnid. These and the worms were preserved. 

 The stomach of the bull contained bones of codfish, much bile, and ascarid worms. 

 IJoth animals were very fat, the female giving little milk. The pups are well grown 

 now and swim about with head above the water. The hair seal can not take the 

 dolphin leap which the fur seal does. It does not use its arms in the water, but swims 

 with the hind tlippers only. 



THE ABANDONED ROOKERY. 



At Marunichen, where the ancient rookery was located, the rocks of columnar 

 lava are all rounded apparently by the action of the water. The grass on the 

 hauling ground is short, but there could not have been much of a hauling ground, as 

 the stones are angular and not as usual worn smooth. It does not seem i)ossible that 

 there could have been any considerable body of seals here. It is said tliat the oldest 

 inhabitant on the island, only, remembers the time when the rookery existed. 



KILLINCi GROUNDS. 



Among the (lualities to be considered in the location of a good killing ground are 

 nearness to the sea, as smooth a road as practicable, nearness to a pond of water, 

 nearness to the rookery. The nearness to the sea is very important, because the seals 

 in returning to the water go faster than they are driven up. It is important that 

 there be a pond of water in which to cool off the seals when heated. 



At the killing ground on Tolstoi, Just back of Middle Hill, there was, in the earlier 

 l)art of the season, water in the de])ression. At the last killing there was no water 

 remaining. The sun came out hot and it was necessary to let free about a thousand 



