AMPPIIBIAlvr MILLIONS. 295 



a large extent of ground — markedly so on St. Paul — as that occu- 

 pied hj the seals' " liauling-gTound " ; this area, in fact, represents 

 those portions of the island upon which the " holluschickie " roam 

 in heavy squadrons, wearing away and polishing the surface of 

 the soil, stripping every foot, which is indicated on the chart as 

 such, of its vegetation and mosses, leaving a margin as sharply 

 detined on those bluffy uplands and sandy flats as it is on the map 

 itself. 



The reason that so much more land is covered by the "hollus- 

 chickie " than by the breeding seals — ten times as much at least — 

 is due to the fact that, though not as numerous, perhaps, as the 

 breeding seals, yet they are tied down to nothing, so to speak — are 

 wholly irresponsible, and roam hither and thither as caprice and 

 the weather may dictate. Thus they wear oft" and rub down a 

 much larger area than the rookery seals occupy ; wandering aim- 

 lessly, and going back, in some instances, notably at English Bay, 

 from one-half to a whole mile inland, not travelling in desultory 

 files along winding, straggling paths, but sweeping in solid pla- 

 toons, they obliterate every spear of grass and rub down nearly 

 every hummock in their restless marching. 



All the male seals, under six years of age, are compelled to herd 

 apart b}^ themselves and away from the breeding grounds, in many 

 cases far away ; the lai'ge hauling-grounds at Southwest Point be- 

 ing about two miles from the nearest rookery. This class of seals 

 is termed " holluschickie " or the "bachelors" by the people: a 

 most fitting and expressive appellation. 



The seals of this great subdivision are those with which the na- 

 tives on the Pribylov group are the most familiar : naturally and 

 especially so, since they are the only ones, with the exception of a 

 few thousand pups, and occasionally an old bull or two, taken late 

 in the fall for food and skins, which are driven up to the killing- 

 grounds at the village for slaughter. The reasons for this exclusive 

 attention to the " bachelors " are most cogent, and Avill be given 

 hereafter when the " business " is discussed. 



Since the " holluschickie " are not permitted by their own kind 

 to land on the rookeries and stop there, they have the choice of two 

 methods of locating, one of which allows them to rest in the rear of 

 the rookeries, and the other on the free beaches. The most notable 

 illustration of the former can be witnessed on Reef Point, where a 

 pathway is left for their ingress and egress through a rookery- — a 



