4<SG THE FUR SEALS OF THE PRIIilLOF ISLANDS. 



wounds fresbeued up. There i.s, liowever, a maiiit'est iiairowiuy of the size of the 

 wound. 



Tliere are 27 ohl bulls along the water front sleeping. 



No trace can be found of the castrated jiu)). A close search bas not been attempted, 

 but one will be made before long, ^'ery few stiirving pups are seen on Kitovi and 

 Lukanin. 



In the afternoon 1 went to the Keef to search for starving ])U]is. The great 

 majority must be dead. Zoltoi sands are almost bare of bulls. There are more 

 bachelors, many yearlings. More seals are in the water than usual. 



Tlie hauling ground of the Iteef is full of bachelors so that one can not get down 

 to rocky observation jtoint. The rookery still maintains its appearance of the lirst 

 week of September. 



AEDIGUEN. 



Bull A is not <>n his shelf and is not anywhere to be seen. The other l)ulls are in 

 l)osition and (i fresh arrivals are seen lying on the rocks at the foot of the slide. There 

 is one gray i>up plainly starving near the water's edge. He is trying in vain to nurse 

 sleeping cows. 



REEF. 



1 go down to the tip of Reef Point and jiass along the shore as far down as the 

 southeast i)oint, about tluee-()uarters the extent of the rookery. Looked careliilly for 

 starving i)ups. I'ound only eighteen that could be certainly said to be stnrving to 

 death. Four of these, large gray fellows, .are knocked in the head and brought up foi- 

 specimens. Two of them were unable to walk; none of them would have lasted over 

 till to morrow. 



Many very small pups were seen along the water front, certainly born to late- 

 arriving cows. They can not be more than a month old. These i)ui>s must 

 un<loubtedly have been born late in August. I counted over I'd of tlieni. Similar 

 pups are plentiful on the Amphitheater of Kitovi. 



Numerous old bulls are to be seen lying on tlie rocks just u^t from the water's 

 edge, and many are s])read all over that portion of the Kecf originally occujiied by 

 harems. They are even back among the cows in their jirescTit ](osition. These bulls 

 were not in the i)osition they occupied a week ago. Some of them will stand their 

 ground. 1 had to back out and go round one or two. Those nearest the water's edge 

 go otf, but those back from it simply look and roar. 



KILLERS. 



As I appro.ached the extremity of the Keef to the east my attention was atti-acted 

 to two killers which were emerging from the mass of seals between the shore and Sea 

 Lion IJock. The seals had parted, leaving the neigliborhood of the killers, and were 

 cilher making toward the shore or standing up in their customary stui)id manner 

 looking in their direction. The killers moved up in a leisurely fashion, following the 

 coast toward East Landing. As they passed along the seals could be seen standing 

 up and watching them. There was no evidence of stampeding among them. The 

 killers were evidently feeding, as a long train of gulls were Ibllowing in their wake 

 and lighting at intervals. I did 7iot see them catch any seals. 



