RELATING TO ST. PAUL ISLAND. 133 



I never saw or lieard tell of a sick seal and altliongli 

 we liave always eaten the flesh of the fur seal we have geSr'*''' "^ '^'^"*'"^ 

 never found one that was diseased in any way. 



The seals came to the islands in the spring and they come from the 

 south through the passes of the Aleutian islands. The ^^.^i^^i of seals 

 bidls come first in May, then the oldest of the bach- buhJ'^ 

 elors, and they keep coming till July, and they haul out Bachelors 

 by themselves on the hauling- grounds; and the bulls 

 and cows go together on the breeding rookeries. If the bachelors went 

 on the breeding rookeries the bulls would kill them. 



The cows begin to haul out in June and they are all on the rookeries 

 about the middle of July, and the pups are born soon 

 after the cows reach the rookeries. As soon as the *^"'^"' 

 pups are a few days old the cows go into the sea to ^ows leedino-. 

 feed and they stay out a little longer every time tliey 

 go until they will be away for a week at a time. The pups are help- 

 less when born, and they can not swhn; and theyAvould 

 drown if put into water, and I have seen them drown rups cannot swim. 

 when swept oft" by the surf in bad weather. They do not eat or drink 

 anything except the milk they get from the cows. No 

 cow will suckle any pup but "her own. I think the heT^wu'pup'^'' °"^^ 

 bachelors do not cat from the time they arrive till they 

 go away, and I think so because the seals killed in May and early June 

 are fat and have plenty of food in their stomachs, while 

 those killed later than June are poor and their stomachs le^T'lsJamis to feed* 

 are empty, and they get jioorer and poorer until they 

 go off' in November. 



The driving is all done by our own people under direction of the chiefs 

 and we never drive faster than about half a mile in one y... . ^ 

 hour. We very seldom drive twice from one rookery "vmg. 

 in one week and very few cows get into a drive before the middle of 

 August. 



Later in the season, when we are driving seals for food, a few cows 

 get into the drives, but we are careful that they do not get hurt; we 

 all kno*vv it is forbidden to kill a female seal at any time and we do not 

 want to have them killed and none are killed except 

 by accident. I never saw a seal killed hy overdriv- onfy by iccMmt.^**^ 

 iiig or by overheating; odd ones do die on the drives 

 by smothering, but their skins are taken by the company and are 

 counted in with the others. We used to kill pups for food in November 

 and then we had to examine the sex aud kill none but males. The Gov- 

 ernment has forbidden us to kill any more pups and 

 we get other meat instead. All our people know the pupg.'''''*^''*''^ *° ^''^ 

 seals are getting scarcer every year and we think it is 

 because of the schooners coming in and shooting the pec-ease 

 cows in the sea. Sometimes they try to land on the 

 rookeries, but we drive them oft' with guns and they 

 never get many seals that way. We earn very little 

 wages now, and we expect the Government to keep us 

 in food and clothing. Unless the schooners are stopped on^^atiVef '^'"''■®'*''' 

 the seals will all be gone soon and then I do not know 

 what my i>eople can do for a living; they know nothing of other work 

 and there is nothing else at the seal islands. 



NicoLi Keukoff. 



