440 MR. T. p. A. RING ON THE 



wriggle away, in which he finally succeeded, and wobbled into 

 the water again, so much wiser, if not better, after his futile 

 raid. 



The Sultan of the other seraglio had in the meantime driven 

 off a slightly smaller biill after a fairly severe trial of strength, 

 and was found lying on the ground, recovering his breath, 

 when he spied the two-legged intruders coming along. Raising 

 himself on his fore-flippers the bull lifted his head, and with 

 the snout pointing to the zenith, turned his head slowly from 

 side to side, taking a scowling look at us, and after what must 

 have been a satisfactory sci-utiny, lying down again. 



On walking among the inmates of the harem, a black dead pup 

 was found and later two more, which the prancing bulls must 

 have crushed in their mad careering through their harems. The 

 Sultan, probably being aware of our heavy footfall on the hard 

 sand, would occasionally rise to have a look round, and suddenly 

 he became alert, the proboscis, which had been hanging limp and 

 flabby, being inflated to a size which exceeded anything previously 

 seen. Up went the head and with the moustache bristling, and 

 eyes turning blood-red, the bull slowly moved his head about, the 

 proboscis vibrating, and saliva running from the open, pink, 

 cavern-like mouth. The posture of the seal was one of tense 

 concentration, and all at once he threw up his hind-flippers, as 

 usual with the animals when making a grand swerve, and 

 bounded off through his harem, the dams and pups scuttling out 

 of the way of the prancing bull with terrifled yelpings. Coming 

 to a stop before a dam whose youngster had scrambled well out 

 of the way, and who seemed to be waiting for her master, and 

 inviting him by twisting her body about, the bull with a loud 

 snort seized the dam with a fore-flipper and served her. 



The bulls in the water, who fought fiercely with each other for 

 the privilege of being onlookers, as the men said, must also have 

 received the silent call, as pandemonium again reigned among 

 them, until the bull had satisfied the demand of nature. Within 

 about 45 minutes the two beachmasters served each three dams, 

 and every time the call came from different cows. Had all six 

 made their demand on the services of the bulls at the same time, 

 those in the water, which were equally possessed by the pairing 

 instinct, would have ascended the beach and satisfied the calls of 

 the dams. 



The following day the pairing of the seals in Christmas Harbour 

 continued, and in all the bays which were visited on our return 

 to the whaling station — when large harems were found, — the 

 bulls were engaged in satisfying the calls of their dams, of which 

 none were seen to be served twice. On beaches where only a few 

 dams formed the harem no pairing was observed, this act, no 

 doubt, having taken place before our arrival. 



In Royal Sound a beachmaster had been vanquished by a bull, 

 which had successfully contested his supremacy. The fight had 



