58 rUE-SEAL HERD OF ALASKA. 



judge there are about 1,000 or 1,200 of them in this batch. Just be- 

 fore reaching these holluschickie, we find the first dead pup that we 

 have seen thus far, although, naturally, there must be many more. 



As we proceed to station M, passing these holluschickie, we find 24 

 bulls and about 700 cows. The holluschickie which all ran down to 

 the sea and swam off as we passed by, are now rounding the point m 

 front of us, a few hauling up again on the rocks immediately under 

 station M. We find among them 7 or 8 young idle bulls and these 

 are the first ones we have found thus far on this rookery. 



At station M we find another semimassing of harems, which we 

 count, and estimate as containing 23 bulls and from 2,300 to 2,500 

 cows. Back of this massing are two pods of holluschickie, which we 

 estimate to consist of about 100 in one pod, and the other of about 

 2,500 or 3,000 — all going to the water— nearly all yearlings, very few 

 6-year-old's, very few polsecatchie, as they show themselves to us 

 as they are now going into the water by us. To these figures we add 

 about 430 cows at the base of this station, and 10 bulls. In between 

 we find a couple of ragged harems, 2 bulls and 14 cows. 



Between stations M and N the holluschickie which are running out 

 now from the pods which we have just stuTed up, make an exhibition 

 of at least 4,000 young animals since they started; chiefly yearlings. 

 (More than 200,000 of them were on this particular area under Hutch- 

 inson Hill, in July, 1874.) 



From station N we now proceed to jag 1, of the 1890 survey under 

 the foot of Hutchinson Hill, and at the base of which lies a mass of 

 breeding seals, of about 12 harems deep. This is the deepest and the 

 largest aggregation of that normal massing of breeding seals which 

 existed here in 1874, that we have seen thus far, and which now is 

 only faintly shadowed out by it. From this outside point of enumer- 

 ation, since it is impossible to properly get in among and count those 

 bulls as they lie to-day, nor is it sensible or advisable to do so, it 

 would appear that there are from 65 to 75 bulls, but it is imj)ossible 

 to state the exact number, we will therefore define the boundary as 

 being substantially the base of jag A in the 1890 survey, and cut 

 down to slightly within the limits of the 1874 survey. 



From here we will pass to the summit of jag 1, of the 1890 survey, 

 and look down upon this mass of breeding seals at the foot of Hutch- 

 insons Hill, in order that we may make a sensible approximation of 

 the numbers massed therem. Wv observe along here two more dead 

 pups. Reaching this summit (jag 1) we look down and find that 

 the massing follows the lines of 1890, reaching from the point of 

 jag 2 over to the limits of jag 1, but within the lines of the survey of 

 1874. It agahi falls away into a series of ragged harems, and dies 

 out before we reach station N. It is massed approximately as the 

 normal massing of 1874, as far as it goes, covering at least 520 feet 

 of the sea margm, runnmg back of jag 1 of 1890 at least 200 feet, 

 with 10 or 12 harems deep, fading away toward jag 2, and jag 3 

 bemg entirely elimmated and lost in this survey.^ We find in this 



' ToTiching this complete elimination of seal life as noted here in 1913, it is interesting to contrast the 

 description of it as it appeared on this spot in 1890, or 23 years ago. 



"As this great rookery was the object of my chief admiration in 1S72, now it, in 1S90, again becomes the 

 object of my chief concern — not admiration to-day, but of my chief pity for this breeding ground has sulYered 

 a startling loss of life during the last IS years. It' presents the deepest shadow now to that sunshine in which 

 I saw it 18 years ago, as I then walked around and over it. I surveyed the ground last summer (July, 1890) 

 as one would locate a graveyard; not more than a suggestion of the massed life of 1872 have I been able to 

 see within its deso\ate area. That ground which I have described in 1872-1874 as covered with hosts of 



