SEAL LIFE ON THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 137 



Septembers was cold and cloudy, tlie wind beiug northeast and fresh, 

 the sea short and choi)py. A few "inoo(;hing" and finning seals were 

 occasionally seen ; no travelers were observed. At 5 i>. ni. we spoke the 

 schooner Ainoho, which had taken 750 skins. For the past week she 

 had been cruising in tlie vicinity of Akutan Pass, but had not found 

 seals abundant enough to remain on that ground. Last season good 

 catches were made there. She was now bound to the westward in 

 search of a large body of seals which had been reported a few days 

 previous by the revenue cutter Grant. 



We continued to jog to the northward for about 20 miles and then 

 hove to. All the afternoon scattering seals had been observed, most 

 of them in our wake. They would follow the vessel for a half hour at 

 a time, seemingly through curiosity. At times during the night seals 

 could be heard playing around us. In the morning several bunches 

 were noticed close by, a few playing, but the majority going in a north- 

 westerly direction. In the early part of the day the barometer began to 

 fall, the weather became threateniiig, with the wind east and sea rough. 

 At 10 a. m. wore shij) and jogged to the southeast under snug canvas, 

 wind a moderate gale from the east- northeast. From daylight until 

 dark more seal life had been observed from the vessel than at any pre- 

 vious time since entering Bering Sea. Our attention was especially 

 attracted to the character of the water, which had the a])pearan(e of 

 being tilled with minute surface life. Birds were nunu^rous, and an 

 occasional whale was in sight. 



During the next three days stormy weather prevailed, the wind being 

 east- northeast and blowing from a moderate to a strong gale; the sea 

 was heavy most of the time. On the morning of the 7th the wind had 

 subsided to a moderate breeze. During this long spell of boisterous 

 weather seals were frequently observed, some playing and others trav- 

 eling in a southwesterly direction. Birds were plentiful most of the 

 time. At noon on the 7th we were in latitude .50° 22' north, longitude 

 171° oO' west, and it was <|uite evident that we had encountered a strong 

 northwesterly current. At S ]>. m. wore ship and stood to the south- 

 east so as to give the (50 mile zone a wide berth. A vessel cruising near 

 this line witliout getting an observation for several days, and having 

 no means of knowing the direction of the current, is very apt to be 

 from 'M) to 40 miles out in her reckoning. 



At a. m. on Sei)tember S the hunters were making preparations to 

 lowei', the sea being smooth and a light breeze blowing from the east- 

 ward; the weather was (;londy. At 10 a. m. the hunt was interru])ted 

 by a hea\y, damp fog. Ten seals liad been obtained — 7 males and 3 

 females. Five of the former were between 4 and 5 years old; the other 

 2 were very small, about 1 year old; the females were all nursing cows. 

 The stonuichs of these seals were nearly all empty. Only a few of the 

 hunters saw seals, and a.icording to a])pearances there were but few in 

 this locality. Two of the boats rowed and sailed fully 1/5 miles each 

 without encountering a single one. Fish and other surface life were 

 correspondingly scarce. As our position — latitude oOo 35' north, longi- 

 tude 17li° 20' west — placed us very near the bank, the scarcity of seals 

 was sur])rising. 



While a number of the canoes were waiting alongside to be hoisted 

 on board a small seal came up in our wake, apparently attracted by the 

 blasts of the fog horn and remaining unconscious of danger until one 

 of the canoes had closely approached it and the spear had been poised 

 for striking. It was captured. 



At 3 p. m. we made all sail g,nd stood to the southeast. Shortly after 



