44 THE FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



IlAiTLiNG GROUNDS ON THE BEACHES. — The Other method of coming ashore, however, is the one most followed 

 and favored. In this case they avoid the rookeries altogether, and repair to the unoccupied beaches between thera, 

 and then extend themselves out all the way back from the sea, as far from the water, in some cases, as a quarter 

 and even half of a mile. I stood on the Tolstoi sand-dunes one afternoon, toward the middle of July, and had under 

 my eyes, iu a straightforward sweep from my feet to Zapadnie, a million and a half of seals spread out on those 

 hauling-grouuds. Of these, I estimated that fully one-half, at that time, were pups, yearlings, and "hoUuschickie". 

 The rookeries across the bay, though plainly iu sight, were so crowded, that they looked exactly as I have seen 

 surfaces appear upon which bees had swarmed in obedience to that din and racket made by the watchful 

 apiarian, when he desires to hive the restless honey-makers. 



The great majority of yearlings and "hoUuschickie" are annually hauled out and packed thickly over the sand- 

 beach and upland hauling-gronnds, which lay between the rookeries on St. Paul island. At St. George tbeie is 

 nothing of this extensive display to be seen, for here is only a tithe of the seal-life occupying St. Paul, and no 

 oi^portunity whatever is aflbided for an amphibious parade. 



Gentleness of the seals. — Descend with me from this sand-dune elevation of Tolstoi, and walk into that 

 drove of "hoUuschickie" below us; we can do it; jou do not notice much confusion or dismay as we go in among 

 them; they simi)ly open out before us and close in behind our trucks, stirring, crowding to the right and left as we 

 go, twelve or twenty feet away from us on each side. Look at this small flock of yearlings, some one, othei-s two, 

 and even three years old, which are coughing and spitting around us now, staring up at our faces in amazeaient as 

 we walk ahead; they struggle a few rods out of our reach, and then come together again behind us, showing no further 

 sign of notice of ourselves. You could not walk into a drove of hogs, at Chicago, without exciting as much confusion 

 and arousing an infinitely more disagreeable tumult ; and as for sheei) on the plains, they would stampede far quicker. 

 Wild animals indeed ! You can now readily understand how easy it is for two or three men, early in the morning, to 

 come where we are, turn aside from this vast herd in front of and around us two or three thousand of the best 

 examples, and drive them back, up, and over to the village. That is the way they get the seals ; there is not any 

 "hunting" or "chasing" or "capturing" of fur-seals on these islands. 



" HoLLUScniCKiE" DO NOT FAST. — While the young male seals undoubtedly have the power of going for lengthy 

 intervals without food, they, like the female seals on the breeding-grounds, certainlj' do not maintain any long 

 fasting periods on land ; their coming and going from the shore is frequent and irregular, largely influenced by the 

 exact condition of the weather from day to day; for instance, three or four thick, foggy days seem to call them 

 out from the water by hundreds of thousands upon the different hauling-gronnds (which the reader observes 

 recorded on my map). In some cases, 1 have seen them lie there so close together that scarcely a foot of ground, 

 over whole acres, is bare enough to be seen; then a clear and warmer day follows, and this seal-covered ground, 

 before so thickly packed with animal life, will soon be almost deserted : comparativelj' so at least, to be filled up 

 immediately as before, when favorable weather shall again recur. They must frequently eat when here, because 

 the first yearlings and "hoUuschickie" that appear iu the spring are no fatter, sleeker, or livelier than they are at 

 the close of the season; in other words, their condition, physically, seems to be the same from the beginning to 

 the end of their appearance here during the summer and fall. It is quite diflerent, however, with the " seecatch"; 

 we know how and where it spends two to three months, because we find it on the grounds at all times, day or night, 

 during that period. 



Sports and pastimes of the young "bachelors". — A small flock of the young seals, one to three years 

 old, generally, will often stray from these hauling-ground margins, up and beyond, over the fresh mosses and 

 grasses, and there sport and play one with another, just as little pupi)y-dogs do; and when weary of this gamboling 

 a general disposition to sleep is suddenly manifested, and they stretch themselves out and cui-1 up iu all the positions 

 and all the postures that their flexible spines and ball-and-socket joints will permit. They seem to revel in the 

 unwonted vegetation, and to be delighted with their own eiibrts iu rolling down and crushing the tall stalks of 

 the grasses and umbelliferous plants ; one will lie upon its back, hold up its hind-flippers, and lazily wave them 

 about, while it scratches, or rather rubs, its ribs with the fore-hands alternately, the eyes being tightly closed during 

 the whole performance ; the sensation is evidently so luxurious that it does not wish to have any side-issue draw 

 off its blissful self-attention. Another, curled u]) like a cat on a rug, draws its breath, as indicated by the heaving 

 of its flanks, quickly but regularly, as though in heavy sleep: another will lie flat upon its stomach, its hind- 

 flippers covered and concealed, while it tightly folds its fore-feet back against its sides, just as a fish carries its pectoral 

 tins — and so on to no end of variety, according to the ground and the fancy of the animals. 



These "bachelor" seals are, I am sure, without exception, the most restless animals in the whole brute creation, 

 M'hich cau boast of a high organization. They frolic and lope about over the grounds for hours, without a moment's 

 cessation, and their sleep, after this, is exceedingly short, and it is ever accompanied with nervous twitchings and 

 inieasy mu.scular movements ; they seem to be fairly brimful and overrunning with spontaneity — to be surcharged 

 with fervid, electric life. 



Another marked feature which I have ob.servcd among the multitudes of "hoUuschickie", which have come 

 under my personal observation and auditory, and one very characteristic of this class, is, that nothing like ill humor 



