402 THE FUR SEALS OF THE PRIF.TLOF ISLANDS. 



include iinother strip, wbicli was counted iu the same rnauuer. The lines were about 

 200 ieet loiiff and Outer Zapadni was split iu two. Several natives were eui])loyed to 

 pass alonj;- the bowlders of tbe water I'ront to search out and indicate hidden pups. 

 Another force under the direction of Judge Crowley marked tbe teiinin;itions of the 

 sections and cleared out a line of pups to avoid dui)lication on the return count. 



The counting was done entirely by myself and Mr. Macoun, each one seeing 

 personally i)ractically all the pups counted. Tiie total uund)er of dead pups counted 

 on Zapadni was 4,.'595. The total of dead pups previously counted on this rookery was 

 3,095. This leaves a margin of 1,.300 pups chargeable to starvation. To this should 

 be added \~>l doomed pups counted by Colonel Murray and jMr. Barrett-Hamilton, 

 making 1,454 in all. Undoubtedly some pups have disappeared since the lirst count, 

 but the number seemed not as great as was expected. 



It is not possible to separate the death trap areas in this count. The increase on 

 them has not been great, as for the most i)ait these spaces have been ahandoned by 

 the seals, which have hauled far back beyond them, i)referring the rocks to the sand 

 in wet weather. It was in these sandy areas that the cliief loss of pups formerly 

 counted will be felt. The gale of wind lias co\ered a few of them with sand, and the 

 passing back and forth of the seals has worn others to pieces. 



Mr. RarrettHamiltou kindly gives me the following notes regarding pups: 



"One pup with a peculiarly deformed nose was found. The nose, which had a 

 number of warty growths upon it, was pieserved. 



"One pup was found blind in the left eye; one with a cut on his left flipper; one 

 had the left hind flipper gone; one had a fore flipper broken. Two blind, gray i)ups 

 were found ; they were fat and in good condition ; their mothers evidently find and 

 nurse them. One pup apparently had no eyes at all; the openings were very small 

 and closed up tightly. Another bliiid pup was seen on Zapadni Keef." 



I afterwards saw 3 of these blind pups. The eyes of 2 were white — of the " moon- 

 eye" type. The eyes of 1 were green, like the eyi^s of an angry cat. 



By .Judge Crowley's direction a number ol' starving gray pups were killed, it 

 being evident that they were doomed to die within a day or two. The skins were 

 taken for museum purposes. 



Sixteen iiu|)s were found on the sands of Southwest Bay. This is (considerably 

 less than the number counted August 14, and sonu- of the present ones ;ire freshly 

 washed up. 



LITTLE ZAPADNI. 



On Little Zapadni rookery the lines were dispensed with, as the rookery is small 

 and the dead pu])s are chiefly near the beaidi. Judge Crowley and I passed along the 

 beach portion of the rookery, Mr. Macoiin along the ui)per part. Natives were lined 

 np at short spaces between. This i)laced a man at every interval of 10 feet throughout 

 the width ol' the rookery. The dead pups were ])ointed out and recorded by Mr. 

 Macoun and myself. Mr. Bai'rett Hamilton and Colonel Murray, as before, went in 

 advance and drove off the seals, counting the starving pups. 



The count of dead pups for this rookery gave a total of 677. It had on the 

 previous count 134 dead pups. Sixty-four starving pups were counted. 



