TOLSTOI AND LUKANIN. 511 



OCTOBER 16. 



In the afternoon I walked out to Tolstoi. The sand flat is deserted. The usual 

 number of seals are in the water and passing back and forth. 



A large number of 'bulls are out and active in rounding up cows. The same 

 condition is shown here as at Lukanin. 



Saw a small pup, black, if anything smaller and younger than the one killed the 

 other day. 



Saw a cow and pup recognize one another in the water. The cow called and the 

 pup came swimming and answering for a considerable distance. The cow showed no 

 inclination to land but swam about. The pup followed her, swimming with his nose 

 touching her side. Once he lost her and came swimming to her calling. Every time 

 the cow's head came above the water the pup came up in front calling and shaking 

 his head. 



TOLSTOI SAND PLAT. 



The heavy blow of the last few weeks has produced marked changes in the sand 

 dunes back of English Bay. All the loose sand has been blown away from the sand 

 flat and it stands out the graveyard it really is. It is literally white with pup bones. 

 Most conspicuous are the scapula and the curved top of the skull. The latter bone 

 was so conspicuous that I measured off" a space 13 by li yards and counted them. 

 The space contained 336, each representing a pup. These are, of course, pups of other 

 seasons than the present. The bones show the pups to have been small — young ones. 

 The same condition, or if anything worse, appears in the extension of the sandy area 

 beyond the present terminus of the rookery, and the bones of pups are strewn a 

 considerable distance up the slope toward the Lagoon. This furnishes another 

 evidence of rookery shrinkage, as this must at one time have been covered with 

 breeding cows. 



The cows and pups are now farther back than ever up the hill, or it may be that 

 they are backed by a lot of bachelors. The usual array of bulls is on the sands of 

 English Bay. There has been no change since September 8. 



LUKANIN. 



Walked across the country to Lukanin Bay. An old bull which evidently had 

 tramped very thoroughly over the space about him was found lying on the sand. 

 Beside him was a great splatter of excrement of a light yellowish color. Mixed with 

 the excrement was a multitude of very fine white short worms — like pieces of white 



thread. 



The bull when aroused seemed very unwilling to move, but finally shuffled off 

 dragging his hind flippers. He was not an old bull, but was very thin, probably sick. 



Along the sand of Lukanin beach at the mark of each subsidence of the surf were 

 hundreds and hundreds of little cylindrical pieces of excrement, evidently voided by 

 the pups which are swimming, sleeping, and diving in the water just offshore. This 

 is exactly similar to the condition noticed already on Zoltoi. 



One of the branded pups is seen swimming in the water. He keeps his back 

 bowed up, showing the 3 brands distinctly. Is he showing off? Watched for ten 

 minutes, he maintains the same position and keeps swimming about. A stone thrown 



