86 FUR-SEAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 



tchere, in the course of which coics and pups and bulls u-ere not disturbed 

 and hustled as the young males icere secured. As loug as the breeding 

 season was at its height, and the compact, solid organization of the 

 rookeries was nnbroken, very few cows were swept into these drives, 

 thongh the disturbance was incessant and great; but when, after the 

 18th to the 20th of July, the rutting season subsided and the pups began 

 to pod out, i. e., scatter back over three and five times as much ground 

 as they had previously laid upon, then the cows followed them, and 

 then the young males mixed ui» right and left and mingled with the 

 herd, since they were no longer attacked or driven here and there by 

 the old bulls. Hence the day or two preceding July 20, was marked by 

 a largely increased number of cows and old bulls in the drives: and, had 

 the driving been permitted later, the nursing cows and okl bulls would 

 have been swept into the droves of small male seals by hundreds, where 

 tens had previously been taken in this manner. 



The driving of a cow Avith her udder distended and dragged for miles 

 over rough, sharp rocks, bumping heavily in and out of holes and over 

 tussocks, can not result in ought else than her physical ruin and the 

 death of her young pup which is left behind. Therefore, any driving on 

 these islands which, in order to get the holluschickie, necessitates the 

 sweeping, into that drive, of cows, pups, and bulls, should terminate 

 instantly on that day it begins; and since the breaking up and spreading 

 of the breeding animals begins as a rule on the 20th of July (a few days 

 earlier if it should rain hard), that date is the very latest day of per- 

 mission to drive that can be safely given whenever killing is resumed 

 again for tax and shipment of skins from these islands. 



Of course, when seals were in abundance, as in 1872-1879, inclusive, 

 and the sealing gangs never were obliged to go near a rookery to get 

 their quota daily, it did not signify one way or the other as to when and 

 how they went about their work. Then, they never disturbed the breed- 

 ing animals, no matter when they drove, whether in June, July, or 

 August. 



But, to-day, the whole order of hauling is changed. The scanty resid- 

 uum of that surplus thousands and tens of thousands of killable seals 

 of 1872-1874, haul now in close contact with the rapidly diminishing 

 breeding animals on the rookeries — everywhere, in fact, but on those 

 broad hauling grounds of 1872-1874, as they were wont to do then. 

 They do so naturally and intelligently enough, since it is the last resort 

 for protection and rest that the islands afford. 



From the beginning of this season of 1800 (and it was so last year 

 also) the moment a small pod of a few hundred holluschickie hauled up 

 into the rear of a rookerj , or appeared on the sand beach just above the 

 surf wash in English Bay under Middle Hill, that very moment these 

 seals n-ere marled and ordered driven. They were never allowed to 

 rest long enough to become even acquainted with terra firma ere they 

 were hustled up by the drivers and urged over to the killing grounds. 



Last season, during that desperate effort made then to get the catch 

 of 100,000, parties were regularly sent over to drive the holluschickie 

 off from Seevitchie Kammen, from Otter Island, from all i^oints under 

 the high bluff's at Zapadnie and Southwest Point, St. Paul, and the 

 north shore of St. George. This year, however, there were too few 

 hauled out on those spots to warrant this effort. There was no sign of 

 seals hauling at all on Otter Island. 



When I expressed my surprise at this ferocious driving, begun early 

 in June, 1 was met by apparent equal surprise on the i)art of the driv- 

 ers, who, wondering at my ignorance, assured me that they had been 



