556 THE FUR SEALS OF THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 



A very large proportion of the idle bulls show ugly scars, the result of recent 

 fights. Contests are constantly going on between them and the harem bulls. Two of 

 these bulls seemed to be engaged in a struggle to the death. One was badly cut about 

 the neck and throat, the other over the bark and sides. Both animals were dripping 

 with blood. It is not often that blood is drawn in these wounds. The two bulls noted 

 clinched several times while we were in sight and neither seemed Inclined to give up 

 the struggle. 



Far back from the shore of Little Zapadni and with numerous idle bulls behind 

 and the harem bulls in front was a fine-looking bull dripping wet and in charge of a 

 harem of ten or a dozen cows. He must have succeeded very recently in ejecting the 

 rightful owner of the harem. 



A visit was made to the gully in the main part of Zapadni, which was famous last 

 year for its dead pups. It bids fair to sustain its reputation this year. It seems to 

 be the center of death not only to pups, but also to cows and bulls. One dead bull lay 

 in the gully and four others were on the slopes back from it which are fringed with 

 idle bulls, the most savage thus far encountered on any rookery. Another bull was 

 lying helpless and ready to die. He was badly bitten about tlie neck. 



Thirteen dead pups were counted in the gully, which in its lower part swarms 

 with cows and pups. One pup still breathed, but was unable to rise. It must have 

 been the victim of a recent disturbance. The pup belonging to a dead cow was trying 

 to nurse. Two pups plainly starving to death were seen. 



One large harem of over 100 cows, most of which were sleeping under the lee of 

 a cliff, was the only harem at rest in the gully. The occupants of the other harems 

 were in constant commotion. One whole harem decamped into the next one below; 

 the bull only succeeded in recovering one cow by carrying her back bodily. The cows 

 are anxious to get to the water, and are not able to do so without passing down 

 through the whole line of harems and being obstructed by all the idle bulls in the 

 vicinity. This is one great source of the disturbance which results so disastrously for 

 the pups. Here, as at Tolstoi sand flat, the harems seem to show a disposition to 

 avoid the flat bottom of the gully by overflowing on the rocky slope at the northern 

 side. There are more harems there than on the bed of the gully. 



The smaller gully, which was fixed last year by covering it with stones, is full of 

 cows and pups. The stones are not big enough to be perfectly satisfactory, but their 

 good effect is plainly visible in the enforced care which the bulls show in getting 

 about. In the other gully they always go with a rush. Here they are more deliberate. 

 Only one dead pup was seen in this gully. 



A count of the cows by harems was attempted from land on Zapadni Eeef, and 

 for about two-thirds of the distance, where the harems were scattered and thin, the 

 count could be accurately made. It had to be discontinued, however. The harems 

 are bunched about the point at the English Bay end. It will be completed from a 

 boat, and the detailed count of harems will then be given. 



The Amphitheater has 556 cows this evening, and under the cliff at Lukanin are 

 19 harems which can readily be counted. They contain 306 cows. The daily count 

 of these and the Amphitheater will be continued. The scattered condition of the 

 harems is still more marked, though there is no unusual increase in the number of 

 cows. There i^ a tendency to spread out over the entire space between the water and 

 the foot of the cliff on Lukanin. There is also a harem at the foot of each of the 



