138 ALASKA. 



before the mother's eyes without causing her to show the 

 slightest concern. The same indifference is exhibited by the 

 bull to all that takes place outside of the boundary of his se- 

 raglio. While the pups are, however, within the limits of his 

 harem-ground, he is a jealous and fearless protector ; but if the 

 little animals pass beyond this boundary, then they may be 

 carried off without the slightest attention in their behalf from 

 their guardian. 



It is surprising to me how few of the pups get crushed to 

 death while the ponderous bulls are floundering over them 

 when engaged in fighting. I have seen two bulls dash at each 

 other with all the energy of furious rage, meeting right in the 

 midst of a small " pod" of forty or fifty pups, trampling over 

 them with their crushing weights, and bowling them out right 

 and left in every direction, without injuring a single one. I do 

 not think more than 1 per cent, of the pups born each season 

 are lost in this manner on the rookeries. 



To test the vitality of these little animals, I kept one in the 

 house to ascertain how long it could live without nursing, 

 having taken it immediately after birth and before it could get 

 any taste of its mother's milk ; it lived nine days, and in the 

 whole time half of every day was spent in floundering about 

 over the floor, accompanying the movement with a persistent 

 hoarse blaating. This experiment certainly shows wonderful 

 vitality, and is worthy of an animal that can live four months 

 without food or water and preserve enough of its latent strength 

 and vigor at the end of that time to go far off' to sea, and return 

 as fat and hearty as ever during the next season. 



In the pup, the head is the vnly disproportionate feature 

 when it is compared with the proportion of the adult form, the 

 neck being also relatively shorter and thicker. I shall have to 

 speak again of it, as it grows and changes, when I finish with 

 the breeding-season now under consideration. 



The cows appear to go to and come from the water quite fre- 

 quently, and usually return to the spot, or its neighborhood, 

 where they leave their pups, crying out for them, and recogniz- 

 ing the individual replies, though ten thousand around, all to- 

 gether, should blaat at once. They quickly single out their 

 own and attend them. It would be a very unfortunate matter 

 if the mothers could not identify their young by sound, since 

 their pups get together like a great swarm of bees, spread out 

 upon the ground in " pods" or groups, while they are young, 



