THE FUR-SEAL ISLANDS OF ALASKA. 43 



Sacb is (lie snni and llie substance of my observations which relate to the breeding-grounds alone on St. Paul 

 and St. George. It is the result ofsuiniueriug and wintering on them, and these definite statements I make with 

 that confidence which one always feels, when he speaks of that which has entered into his mind by repeated 

 observation, and has been firmly grounded by careful deductions therefrom. 



10. THE "nOLLUSCniCKIE" OR "BACHELOR" SEALS— A DESCRIPTION. 



The nAULiNGGKOUNDS AND THEIR OCCUPANTS. — I DOW call the attention of the reader to another very 

 remarkable feature in the economy of the seal-life on these islands. The great herds of " holluschickie",* numbering 

 from one-third to one half, perhaps, of the whole aggregate of near 5,000,000 seals known to the Pribylov group, 

 are never allowed by the " see-catcUie", under the paiu of frightful mutilation or death, to put their flipjiers on or 

 near the rookeries. 



By reference to my map, it will be observed that I have located a large extent of ground — markedly so on 

 St. Paul — as that occupied by the seals' "hauling-grounds " ; this area, in fact, represents those i)ortions of the island 

 upon which the "holluschickie" roam in their heavy squadrons, wearing off and polishing the surface of the soil, 

 stripping every foot, which is indicated on the chart as such, of its vegetation and mosses, leaving the margin as 

 sharply defined on llie bluffy uplands and sandy flats as it is on the map itself. 



The reason that so much more land is covered by the "holluschickie" 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, they are tied down 

 to nothing, so to s])eak — a:e wholly irresponsible, and roam hither and thither as caprice and the weather may 

 dictate. Thus they wear off and rub down a much larger area than the rookery-seals occupy; wandering aimlessly, 

 and going back, in some instances, notably at English bay, from one-half to a whole mile inland, not traveling 

 in desultory files along winding, straggling paths, but sweejiing in solid ])latcons, they obliterate every spear of 

 grass and rub down nearly every hummock in their way. 



Definition of "holluschickie". — All the male sea's, from six years of age, are compelled to herd apart by 

 themselves and away from the breeding-grounds, in many cases far away ; the large hauling-grounds at Southwest 

 point being about two miles from the nearest rookery. This class of seals is termed " holluschickie" or the " bachelor" 

 seals by the people, a most fitting and expressive appellation. 



The seals of this great subdivision are those with which the natives on the Pribylov grouji 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 will be 

 given hereafter when the "business" is discussed. 



Locating the hauling-grounds: Paths through the rookeries. — Since the "holluschickie" are not 

 permitted by their own kind to land ou 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 ijoint, where a pathway is left for their ingress and 

 egress through a rookery — a i:)ath left by common consent, as it were, between the harems. On these trails of 

 passage they come and go in steady files all day and all night during the season, unmolested by the jealous 

 bulls which guard the seraglios on either side as they travel; all peace and comfort to the young seal if he minds 

 his business and keeps straight ou up or down, without stoi)ping to nose about right or lett ; all woe and desolation 

 to him, however, if he does not, for in that event he will be literally torn in bloody griping, from limb to limb, by 

 the vigilant old " see-catchie". 



Since the two and three-year old "holluschickie" come u]) in small squads with the first bulls in the spring, or a 

 few days later, such common highways as those between the rookery-ground and the sea are traveled over before the 

 arrival of the cows, and get well defined. A passage for the "bachelors", which I took much pleasure iu-observiug 

 day after day at Polavina, another at Tolstoi, and two on the Reef, in 1872, were entirely closed up by the " see-catchie" 

 and obliterated, when I again searched for them in 1874. Similar i)assages existed, however, on several of the 

 large rookeries of St. Paul; one of those at Tolst<ii exhibits this feature very finely, for here the hauling-ground 

 extends around from English bay, and lies up back of the Tolstoi rookery, over a flat and rolling summit, from 100 

 to 120 feet above the sealevel. The young males and yearlings of both sexes come through and between the harems, 

 at the height of the breeding-season, on two of these narrow pathways, and before reaching the ground above, are 

 obliged to climb up an almost abrupt bluff, which they do by following and struggling in the water-runs and washes 

 that are worn into its face. As this is a large hauling-ground, ou which, every favorable day during the season, 

 fifteen or twenty thousand commonly rest, the sight of skillful seal-climbing can be witnessed here at any time 

 during that period ; and the sight of such climbing as this of Tolstoi is exceedingly novel and interesting. AVhy, 

 verily, they ascend over and upon places where au ordinary man might, at first sight, with great j)ositiveuess say 

 that it was utterly impossible for him to climb. 



* The Russian term "holluscluckic" or "bachelors" is very appropriate, and is usually employed. 



