54 



"In this record no effort was made to get full counts for lack of time. I Lave only 

 noted what I saw. It is very clear that the starving, pup is in fullest evidence on the 

 Glinka rookeries. On these rookeries trampled ])U))S must stand at the very mini- 

 mum because the rookeries are narrow and rocky, preventing massing, and bulls are 

 few. There is little chance of drowning. 



"One pup in the water has crawled upon a rock about 10 feet from the shore to 

 die. The rising tide will drown him if he doesn't starve first. 



"On the edge of the slide at I'alata is a little brook which has worn a small gully 

 and which is doubtless responsible for the slide itself. In the In'ook were 4 dead 

 starved pups, and in a ])od of 150 lying near it at least 50 more are starving. 



"'I'he governor of Medni Island seemed rather sensitive on the subject of dead 

 pups, as though he felt that he might be taken to task for it. He spoke of the trara- 

 jdiug of bulls as the cause. I tried to throw the blame on the pelagic sealers, and 

 ex]>re8sed my hope that wise arrangements might ]nit a sto]! to the loss. But it 

 would seem that the authorities think the less said the better on this suViject. 



"It is probable that most of the pods of pujis a](mg the beach are made up of 

 starving ones, the strong ones being in the water and on the Ijare outlying reef. 

 Even a fairly pliimii one seemed dull and dwarlish, while among the others are all 

 stages of emaciation. The excessively numerous beach Hies make (luick work of 

 the bodies. 



"Sei>arating Palata from Zapalata is a huge wall of cliff, at the foot of which, on 

 the Zapalata side, is a number of ])arallel or knife-like reefs which extend well out 

 to sea, bare at low tide, and now black with seals and pups, the fcuuiles almost as 

 dark as the young. The pn])s find excellent ]daces for swimming between the reefs. 

 A good many are scattered aVxiut over the slide which forms tlie rookery, mostly 

 asleep, while luany are crowded on the beach bidow. 



"On the detached north end of I'alata ll' dead starved pups were notii^ed, with 24 

 other dead ones mostly showing cniaciation, but more than a week old, so that they 

 can not be investigatc^d. This rookery, like the others, is one on \\ hich very few 

 pups would lie trampled. 



"One fresh pup, not emaciated, at the edge of the sea, has ajiparently drowned. 

 This is the only |iup seen in condition to be examined in which the death was obvi- 

 ously not due to starving." 



AITOI'SIKS (IN MKDNI ISL.\XI). 



The following autopsies are taken from my field notes: 



"1. Zapcuhii. — Voung male pup cast up by waives. Perfectly fresh; no trace of 

 subcutaneous fat; lungs greatly congested, crepitate; no trace of water in him; 

 heart normal, with some unclotted blood: liver very dark red; spleen pur|dish; 

 stomach and intestines empty, except the lower part, which contains the dark-green 

 tarry matter; gall bladder nearly empty ; kidneys deeply congested, the left most 

 so; evidently starved, not drowned. 



"2. Zapadiii. — Female; wholly devoid of subcutaneous fat; vent foul with black 

 tarry matter; lungs <leeply congested, not crepitating; intestines ])ale, empty, 

 except for fluid brown bile; stouuich em])ty, with mucus and bile; kidneys slightly 

 congested, the left most. 



"3. Sahatdut Dim. — Male; no subcutaneous fat; lungs excessively congested, 

 almost black, not creiiitating at all; heart normal, with some blood; liver very 

 black; left kidney much congested, the right a little; intestines with tarry bile and 

 slime in lower part only. 



"4. Sabatcha Dirn. — Male; lungs greatly congested, crepitate; no fat; liver dark; 

 black matter in lower intestines as usual, the alimentary canal otherwise empty; 

 kidneys congested, the right most so; heart normal, with some blood. 



XIX. DAILY RECORD OF ROOKERY LIFE. 



ARDIGUEN KOOKEHY. 



Between Reef Point and the beginning of Gorbatch Rookery there is a group of 

 isolated harems, 27 in all, this season, containing 6.52 cows, which lie in a particu- 

 larly favorable location for observation. The harems are scattered along the rocky 

 beach for a distance of several hundred feet. Near the southern extremity a gully 

 leads up and back to the level of the hauling ground of Reef rookery. In the 

 gully itself and on the flat about its mouth are a number of harems. At the side of 

 the gully toward Gorbatch the clift" rises to a considerable height and overhangs 

 these harems, affording a view at close range without disturbing the animals. This 

 section of breeding ground was under inspection at frequent intervals from .July 

 14 until October 14. The place has been vaguely recorded as the "Slide" on the 

 Keef. The Aleut name here chosen for it means "a pile of stones." The following 



