54:0 THE FUR SEALS OP THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 



JUNE 30. 



A drive was made this morning from the western side of the peninsula, Yostochni 

 rookery. The killing was made on the flat by the side of Webster Lake. A total of 

 790 was killed; 214 small and 376 large seals were rejected. 



Of the large seals many were young bulls, but there were others which were 

 killable seals in 1894-95. Bearing in mind the modus vivendi of 1892-93, every 

 possible killable seal should have been killed in the years immediately following. 

 When these seals are grown up and enter the lists for places on the breeding grounds 

 there will be exciting times. It would be well for the Government to have all the 

 old and in any sense disabled bulls shot each fall when they haul out on the sand 

 beaches so that the rookeries can be restocked by young blood. It would be better 

 to kill ofl' the older rather than the younger bulls. One or the other class should be 

 diminished. There are double the number of bulls about these rookeries that wiU 

 get cows. 



At the killing this morning I weighed with a hand scale 52 individual skins. 

 Twenty-two small skins picked out on the field weighed less than 6 pounds each. The 

 individual weights are as follows : 5J, 5J, 5, 5J, 5, 5, 5J, 5J, 5, 5J, 5f , 5J, 5J, 5J, 5J, 5J, 5f , 

 5|, 5f , 5 J, 5J, 5|. Of the remaining 30 skins 16 were less than 7 pounds, as follows : 6, 6, 

 6J, 6J, 6J, 6J, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6J, 6^, 6, 6;^. The remaining skins weighed as follows : 7J, 9, 

 li;8,7,8,8,7J,7,9i,7,8i,9. 



In walking down to the village I found a dead bull on the sands midway between 

 Northeast Point and Polovina. It had evidently died this spring, but was too far 

 decomposed to permit of close examination. 



LUKANIN AND KITOVI. 



In the evening I visited Lukanin and Kitovi. I counted 210 cows in the Amphi- 

 theater in 10 harems. Mr. Adams reports that there were 137 cows on the 28th and 

 168 on the 29th. 



One of the harems here numbers 42 cows and is located on the flat above the little 

 gully at the southern end. At the foot of this gully is a harem of about 15 cows 

 which fills the passageway. The harem at the top must have received its cows through 

 this passageway, and the only explanation is that the bull below could not possibly 

 hold all the cows and they passed through to the flat above. There are only 3 easy 

 landing places on the Amphitheater (its shore being for the most part abrupt), and at 

 each of these are grouped several large harems, the rear ones having evidently been 

 formed by cows passing through. They are larger than the original harems. In one 

 case the original harem has 20, the harem behind it has 33. In the harem with 33 cows 

 there are 15 pups. 



One case of copulation is in progress on the Amphitheater. Nothing can now be 

 known of the history of the cow, as the harem is a large one. It was founded with a 

 single cow on the 14th and she was alone until the 17th,' when her pup was born. The 

 harem then increased rapidly. 



COPULATION. 



Mr. Adams reports 6 cases of copulation observed by him on the 27th, 28th, and 

 29th in the harems under watch. Three of these were in a harem whose history is 

 pretty well known. It was founded with a single cow on the 18th at 9 a. m., received 



