354 THE FUE SEALS OP THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 



Arte], the influx of young bulls is marked. The western part of this rookery now 

 contains 55 harems. The count on July 9 gave 51 harems, 867 cows. The previous 

 uncounted portion of the rookery contains 36 bulls with cows. Allowing for the 

 thinning out of harems, this would mako the former estimate of 2,700 cows not far from 

 correct. Colonel Murray finds to day a total of 225 harems on North rookery. ^ He 

 saw one bull copulating today. He also reports seeing a dead pup on East rookery, 

 and Professor Thompson saw 2 pups, supposed to be drowned. 



It is apparent that the mortality among pups at the present age is small unless 

 they are drovi^ned^ by a heavy gale. They are tough enough to stand knocking about, 

 and, moreover, have such fear of a bull that they keep out of his way. 



Pups are crawling about the rocks and high up the cliffs. One lies dead at the 

 foot of a cliff, where he has evidently fallen from above. Pups are playing freely in 

 the water. 



At the east end of North rookery are three harems which were not there when 

 the first count was made. They are around young bulls. It is evident that with 

 young bulls at the rear of every harem and at the water's edge there is little chance 

 of cows escaping impregnation. 



A bull was seen to act toward a seal among the bachelors as though it were a cow. 

 A large patch of excrement was seen on the hauling ground, indicating a recent meal 

 by some seal. 



Bulls still take an interest in their harems and there is some quarreling. A 

 number of cows frightened into the water were watched and found to return to a 

 harem within a short time. The bulls below offered no opposition. 



On the stones of the gully, and on the hillside just above, leading to the eastern 

 hauling ground of North rookery are many gray lichens. Ten years ago thousands 

 of seals clambered over these stones to the hill above, and some still climb there. 

 The spaces between the stones are filled with the characteristic slime of the hauling 

 ground, black and slippery. The lichens are growing and the grass covers the ground, 

 which has not been worn bare this year, although some seals climb up daily and lie 

 about at all times. 



JULY 31. 



Dr. Jordan visited Gorbatch in the morning, and in the afternoon, in company 

 with Dr. Voss, Mr. Stanley-Brown, and Mr. Clark, made experiments with a view to 

 identifying the virgin females. 



Weather clear; wind from southeast, with heavy surf ; thermometer 46; barometer 

 30.55. 



GORBATCH ROOKEKT. 



The dead cow on the Zoltoi end of Gorbatch was skinned. She contained an 

 unborn pup and had been bitten in the small of the back, probably by a bull. This 

 bite was the cause of death. She had probably been wedged among the rocks by 

 the surf. 



'A count of harems at tbis date, after many of th'3 regular harem masters are gone, and when 

 the young half bulls and idle bulls are entering the breeding grounds, is manifestly misleading. The 

 division of the single harem of 135 cows into 9 harems shows how the idle bulls have increased the 

 harems. 



-' 8ee later observations. Very few pups are drowned in the surf, even of the severest gales. 



