60 



"A wet cow is seen to recognize a pup which looks as if he were half starved. He 

 is very eager, but his mother is slow to give him a chance to nurse. The little fellow 

 seems ahuost ready to eat her up. He tights oft' tbe other pups in the way, and 

 keeps shaking his head and calling to his mother. Two oilier pups, pl.iinly starving, 

 are following the cow. These she drives oft'. This cow lias probably been an 

 unusually long time away. At liist she climbs to a Hat rock near the head of the 

 cliti', pushes a pod of sleeping piqts off from it, and, after much delay, she nurses 

 her own. 



"There are many starving pups in the 'slide' The old bull in A's position still 

 holds his ground. 



" Sejitcmhtr IS. — About the head of the slide are 100 or more yearlings and 2-j ear- 

 old bachelors, playing and chewing one another as at the other end of the Keef. 

 The stream of bachelors extends down into the runway olf Kcef Point. There are 

 cows and pups among them farther down. 



"The big brown bull that has been in A's place is on hand to-day with the bach- 

 elors about him. Two young bulls are tighting near him. One of them seems very- 

 much excited anil keeps up a steady roar. He remains while the other one with- 

 draws, lie sees mc, and then watching me, keeps on roaring. He goes down into 

 his old place, then goes out to meet the liig lirown fellow, and after a show of hght 

 the big fellow moves away. The smaller bull is just in and dripping. As he dries, 

 he begins to look familiar, and catching sight of his left fore Hipper with its great 

 scar, I recognize him at once as the original A of the slide back in his old place. 

 His every action seems to proclaim that he is at home. A wet cow comes uj) with 

 her pup and he rounds her up and talks to her. He moves about just as in the breed- 

 ing season. This liuU has not been about for at least three weeks and he comes back 

 looking as if he had been away feeding. 



" The big brown bull has gone over to IVs original place, just as if he recognized 

 A's right to the shelf under the rock and went home. He looks as though he misrht 

 actually be B. (G.A.C.) 



"A wet cow is coming up the 'slide,' calling loudly. A little gray pup, very thin 

 and with a starved look, wakes iij) from under the big rock on the south side of the 

 slide. He is at the top of the clift' and she is at the bottom, and it looks like a case 

 of recognition. The little Icllow sets out to climb down and slijis, sliding head over 

 heels to the bottom. The cow recognizes him and starts up the side at a place 

 beyond, the ]ioor little jiup alter her. He has to make many trials. He looks just 

 like many of the pups we have been i)ronoun<ing doomed. The cow's ears are white. 

 She wanders about and settles down on the flat stone that formed part of the bound- 

 ary of B's harem. Her pup begins nursing eagerly. You can almost imagine you 

 see his si(h'8 inllate. 



"The brown bull starts B for the rock, drives off the cow, and settles down on it. 

 She wanders oft' and the pup after her. Presently the bnll starts alter a cow. At 

 once the cow returns with her pup. The bull comes back and gets on the rock. 

 When last seen, he was lying on the rock and the cow sitting on an edge beside him, 

 while the little pup stands in the mud. 



" Ketiiruing by Zolotoi sands, I hud that the half albino which was so conspicuous 

 in the earlier i)art of the season is out again, wet. It looks as though these were 

 home-coming days. 



"There lire at least 3 freshly dead pups in tlie slide. In one place there are 4 close 

 together, all of which have died within a week. Two hopelessly starving little 

 fellows are seen moving about, (ti. A. C) 



"Sf2)t.eiiihfr 7.9.— Occasionally in different parts of the rookeries you tind a bull in 

 some particular place who seems not to have lelt it. They are generally in isolated 

 positions. The l)lack fellow that has been for the past two or three weeks at the 

 head of the 'slide" is an exami>le. 



"There are more and more seals on the tlat height of the parade ground. Cows 

 and pups have moved back into the green tlat at the eastern side on account of the 

 rain. 



"At the mouth of the 'slide' the bachelors are as yesterday. They have spread 

 out over a good part of the little grassy hollow back of the mouth of the gully. 

 There is a wet bull in C's ])lace. He acts as though he owned the place, working 

 industriously but incft'ectually to keep out the young bachelors who are playing 

 sikatch. He drives them all far out, then comes back and lies down, but they are 

 back about him in a few minutes. The wet fellow goes over to make a lunge at the 

 big black fellow and then dot-s the same thing to A. Just the performance of the 

 breeding season, but in a milder way. 



"The bull at A is the original A without a particle of doubt. He is dry now and 

 is recognizable by general appearance without his scar, but this removes any possi- 

 bility of doubt. One would think that these old fellows knew us, they have seen 

 us so often. They look up and roar. A is rounding up his cows and parading him- 

 self over his shelf just as in former days. 



