138 FUR-SEAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 



Scarcely a female has yet appeared. The old bulls locate themselves 

 OD the breeding grounds about 5 to 10 feet distant from each other. 

 Those that first arrive locate near the shore. Those that come next 

 have to fight to get iu at all, and gradually work back, keeping these 

 bounds and dotted themselves like checkers on a checker board, fight- 

 ing all the time, maiming and sometimes killing each other. About 

 the 20th of May all the old bulls have arrived. They have got the 

 breeding grounds pretty well pre-empted. A great many young males 

 have attempted to land and have been forced off. About the end of 

 May or the 10th of J une the first cows appear. They do not land like 

 the males. Their period of gestation is about to expire, and they can 

 not bring forth their young in the water. About the 14th or 15th of 

 June the cows begin to come in quite large numbers, and by the 24th 

 they land so as to appear in great waves or streaks as they move up 

 on shore ; and by the end of June or the 20th of July the whole breeding 

 ground has become covered with a solid mass of their bodies, so that it 

 looks at a distance like a vast swarm of hiving bees. When the female 

 lands she gives birth to her pup anywhere from a few hours to a couple 

 of days. The labor pains are brief, three to five minutes ; the pup is 

 dropped, and is soon on its feet, with its eyes wide open. About the 

 20th of July the entire breeding of the islands is at its height ; that is, 

 the cows have arrived, nearly all the pups have been born, and the cows 

 have had coitus with the male, so that by the 4th or 5th of August it is 

 pretty nearly over ; the cows then scatter and this perfect organization 

 of the rookeries is broken up. In the mean time the killing season has 

 expired. The non breeding seals arrive nearly as early as the old males, 

 but do not go ashore in any numbers. The great body of the bachelors 

 generally arrive from the 14th to the 20th of June. The yearlings do 

 not come in a body until about the 20th of July. 



The natives and the company are jointly interested in getting the 

 very best skins and getting them as quickly as possible, because every 

 day after the opening of the season until the end of the season early in 

 August the quality of the skin sensibly deteriorates. The best skins 

 are from the seals that have arrived first. After that the seal begins to 

 shed his coat and the skin is by the.4th to 10th August in that condition 

 called " stagey." Therefore the desire of the company is to secure as 

 early as possible its quota of skins. When this time arrives the natives 

 are notified. They appreciate the importance of this, and on the morn- 

 ing of a killing day the company's agent gets up at the break of day, 

 which is about one or two o'clock in that latitude, and goes out with his 

 party. The seals are separated by walking in between them. The 

 natives never like to drive up more seals than they can handle on any 

 one working day. The seals as they are driven become warm and a 

 good deal excited. This " drive" thus selected is driven on the land 

 slowly over distances of about a quarter to .i. mile and a half up to the 

 village. The natives walk along behind them and they go forward with- 

 out much trouble. In this way they are brought over on to the killing 

 grounds, and when they arrive there the natives come down from their 

 houses armed with clubs and knives, and under the direction of au over- 

 seer the work of killing is taken up. Thirty or forty seals are driven out 

 from the drove at a time and knocked in the head and instantly killed. 

 The foreman, in advance of killing this " pod," indicates what particular 

 seals are to be spared, and after the slaying is completed these survivors 

 are permitted to clamber out over the bodies of the slain, away from 

 this scene of carnage, and go back to the sea. 



Q. Are there ever any female seals among those? — A. They never 



