FUR-SEAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 75 



the rookeries on St. Paul Island. At St. George there is nothing of this extensive 

 display to be seen, for here is only a tithe of the seal life occupying St. Paul, and no 

 opportunity whatever is afforded for an amphibious parade. 



GENTLENESS OF THE SEALS. 



Descend with me from this saud-duue elevation of Tolstoi, and walk into that 

 drove of holluschickie below us. We can do it. You do not notice much confusion 

 or dismay as we go in among them; they sim])ly open out before us and close in 

 behind our tracks, stirring, crowding to the right aud left as wo go, 12 or 20 feet 

 away from us on each side. Look at this small Hock of yearlings, some 1, others 2, 

 aud even 3 years old, which are coughiug aud spittiug around us now, staring up at 

 our faces in amazement as we Avalk ahead. They struggle a few rods out of our 

 reach and then come together again behind us, showing no further sign of notice of 

 ourselves. You could not walk into a drove of hogs at Chicago without exciting as 

 much confusion and arousing an infinitely more disagTeeublo tumult; aud as for 

 sheep on the plains, they would stampede far quicker. Wild animals indeed! You 

 can now readily understand how easy it is for two or three men — early in the morn- 

 ing — to come where we are, turn aside from this vast herd in front of and around us 

 2,000 or 3,000 of the best examples, and drive them l>ack, up, aiul over to the village. 

 That is the way they get the seals. There is not any "hunting" or "chasing" or 

 "capturing" of fur seals on these islands. 



HOLLUSCHICKIE DO NOT FAST. 



While the young male seals undoubtedly have the power of going for lengthy 

 intervals without food, they, like the female seals on the breeding grounds, certainly 

 do not maintain any long fasting ])eriods on land. Their coming and going from the 

 shore is iVeciucnt and irregufar, largely inlluenced by the exact condition of the 

 Aveather from day to day. For instaiu e, three or four thick, foggy days seem to call 

 them out from the water by hundreds of thousands ujion the different hauling grounds 

 which the reader observes recorded on my map. In some cases I have seen them lie 

 there so close together that scarcely a foot of ground over whole acres was bare enough 

 to be seen. Then, a clear and warmer day follows, and this seal-covered ground, 

 before so thickly packed with animal life, will soon be almost deserted : compara- 

 tively so at least, to be filled up immediately again when favorable weather shall 

 reappear. They must frecjuently eat when here, because the tirst yearlings and 

 holluschickie that come in the s])ring, are no fatter, sleeker, or livelier than they are 

 at the close of the season; in other words, their condition, jihysically, seems to be 

 the same from the beginning to the end of their appearance here during the summer 

 and fall. It is quite different, however, with the "see-catchie." We know how and 

 where it spends two to three months, because we hnd it on the grounds at all times, 

 day or night, during that ]Jeriod. 



SPORTS AND PASTIMES OF THE YOUNG BACHELORS. 



A small flock of the young seals, one to three years old generally, will often stray 

 from these hauling-ground margins, up aud beyond, over on to the fresh mosses and 

 grasses, and there sport and play one with another just as little puppy dogs do: and 

 when weary of this gamboling, a general dispdsition to sleep is suddenly manifested, 

 and they stretch themselves out and curl up in all the ])Ositions and all the postures 

 that their flexible spines aud ball-and-socket joints will permit. They seem to revel 

 in the unwonted vegetation, and to be delighted with their own efforts in rolling 

 down and crnshing the tall stalks of the grasses and umbelliferous plants. One will 

 lie upon its back, hold up its hind flippers and lazily wave them about, while it 

 scratches or rather rubs it8ril)S with the fore hands alternately, the eyes being tightly 

 closed during the whole i)erformance. The sensation is evidently so luxurious that 

 it does not wish to have any side issue draw ott' its blissful self-attenticm. Another, 

 curled up like a cat on a rug, draws its breath, as indicated by the heaving of its 

 flanks, qui(dvly but regularly as though in heavy sleep. Another will lie flat upon 

 its stomach, its hind flippers covered and concealed, while it tightly folds its fore 

 feet back against its sides just as a flsh carries its pectoral fins. And so cm to no end 

 of variety according to the ground and the fancy of the animals. 



These bachelor seals are, I am sure, without exception the most restless animals 

 in the whole brute creation which can boast of a high organization. They frolic 

 and lope about over the grounds for hours without a moment's cessation, and their 

 sleep after this is exceedingly short: it is usually accompanied with nervous twitch- 

 ings aud uneasy muscular movements. They seem to be fairly brimful and overrun- 

 ning with spontaneity, to be surcharged with fervid, electric life. 



Another marked feature which 1 have observed among the multitudes of hollus- 

 chickie that have come under my personal observation and auditory, and one very 



