THE PUPS AT BLACK BLUFFS. 443 



A young bull at the foot of the cliff is teasing a pup, as observed yesterday. He 

 acts to-day much the same, but a bull comes after him and spoils his fun. 



The Reef was searched with a glass for freshly dead pups, or starving ones. 

 K^one seen. All bulls that eould be observed showed testes. 



It is evident that this backward movement does not mean that the cows and pups 

 have abandoned the water. Wet cows and pups are to be seen among the very 

 farthest out, and they are coming and going all the time. 



Two little foxes which have begun to be very attentive to travelers over the 

 parade ground have followed me down to the rock pile. One lies on a stone on one 

 side, the other on the other, watching every movement I make. The seals do not 

 mind them. 



The day is very bright and sunny. The seals are sprawling out on the ground, 

 showing the effect of the heat. 



AUGUST 31. 



MK. LUCAS'S NOTES. 



I stroll over toward Kitovi, but come upon the crippled seal seen during our first 

 week here and turn back so as not to disturb him. The pups are having much sport 

 by the " Bound Tower" at the head of Black Bluffs. They bathe in the natural bath 

 tubs in the rock and poke their heads iu to seek for the bits of kelp w#li which they 

 play. Around the corner the large band have a glorious time in the washed up kelp, 

 pulling up long pieces and shaking them vigorously; but I don't see them swallow 

 any. Like children, they enjoy crawling in nooks and crannies, and to climb up high 

 on the rocks. Here and there a yearling or 2-year-old plays with the pups or looks on 

 much as a big girl plays with dolls long after her companions have put them aside. 

 They " play bull " and bite and growl, and one in the water twists and turns and cuts 

 up generally. 



At another place a bull comes out of the water and gets within 25 feet of me. 

 He seems suspicious and finally goes slowly off, although he does not show that he 

 actually sees me. 



The seals are very thick about Kitovi, having come in here, as elsewhere, on 

 account of the high seas. 



There are many starved and starving pups on Tolstoi. Those recently dead from 

 starvation can, for the most part, be readily distinguished from those which died in 

 the earlier part of the season. They are flatter, not swollen, and the heads seem larger. 

 The large size of the head is especially characteristic of the starving pup, even when 

 far from dead. The sands at Tolstoi are now practically bare. The females pass close 

 to me in going to and from the water, but while I '^shoo" them off" I make no sudden 

 movements and they do not take fright. They approach within 30 feet of me. There 

 is a line of sleeping bulls from Zapadni Eeef two-thirds of the way to Tolstoi, and a 

 line of them up the base of Middle Hill. The bones of many pups lie iu the sand to 

 the east of Tolstoi Rookery. 



MK. CLARK'S NOTES. 



Mr. Eedpath says that the seals have apparently never hauled out on certain 

 beaches which seem to be quite as well adapted for rookery purposes as those now 

 15184, PT 2 13 



