CHARACTER OF THE REEF DRIVEWAY. 129 
THE DRIVES GREATLY SHORTENED. 
The drives have been still further shortened by the location of new killing grounds 
still hearer to. the rookeries, and to-day the longest drive on St. Paul is not over a 
mile in length, while several are less than half a mile. On St. George, except in the 
case of Zapadni, the drives are the same as in the old days, everything being brought 
to the village. North rookery, however, is within half a mile of the village killing 
ground, and this is the largest of the rookeries. From Staraya Artel and from East 
rookeries the drives follow a course upward of 24 miles in length in opposite directions 
from the village. On these driveways there are marshy places and occasional ponds 
of fresh water in which the seals are allowed to cool off. These drives, therefore, 
though long, are easier than shorter drives would be under ordinary conditions. 
REEF DRIVEWAY. 
The Reef drive on St. Paul, though only about a mile in length, is in fact the 
hardest of the drives. It contains all the different conditions to be met with on any 
of the drives, and therefore a detailed description of its course will answer for the rest. 
Reef drive begins at the very point of Reef peninsula. The hauling ground of 
Reef rookery lies in the rear of the central portion of the breeding ground in a hollow 
between two rocky ridges, one dividing it from the rookery itself and the other 
leading up to the flat ground of the “parade ground.” The hauling ground has 
four runways connecting it with the sea. From the heads of these runways and 
from the central portion of the hauling ground the straggling bands of bachelors are 
gathered up and driven to the flat of the parade ground above. Here on the level 
the different groups are united in one great pod. 
THE CHARACTER OF THE ROUTE. 
After the drive is formed the first 90 yards of its course lies over practically level 
ground, sloping very gradually toward, the east, the direction to be taken. Toward 
the end of this first section the ground becomes strewn with large bowlders, suffi- 
ciently far apart, however, to offer no obstructions to the seals. 
The course then leads out into a level, grassy plain, 325 yards in length, with a 
scarcely perceptible slope to the east. The ground is level, free from stones, and the 
damp seal grass makes going easy. In this plain the larger drove of seals is usually 
divided into two smaller ones for convenience in driving. 
Beyond the grassy plain is a bowlder-covered area, the rocks imbedded in the 
soil, fat and worn smooth. This area was once hauling ground, perhaps breeding 
territory in the palmy days of the herd. Between the stones are patches of yellow 
seal grass. At the ridge, about midway in this rocky stretch, the course is narrowed 
by piles of rocks, traces of the original cliff which formed the ridge. In this 
narrowed passage there is a tendency to crowd, due to the desire of the seals to go 
in a mass wherever they go. The whole length of this rocky area is about 262 yards. 
From the rocks the driveway leads up a gentle sand slope to a plain lying between 
two rows of grass-grown sand dunes. This plain is 400 yards in length and furnishes 
very easy going for the seals. Its surface is covered with a heavy growth of rye 
grass, which is always wet with rain or dew, and serves to cool off the seals. 
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