NORTH ROOKERY IN 1895i 



139 



however, can only be appreciated when it is remembered that the rookeries were 

 scraped absolutely clean, and that not a seal was allowed to escape that would have 

 yielded an acceptable skin. It can be stated with almost absolute certainty that there 

 was not a bachelor seal on north rookery, Bering Island, of the class yielding 

 6-pound skins. 



Weight of shins taken in IS drives on' north rooTsery, Bering Island, 1895. 



Though not literally absent, the yearlings were practically so. Prom the next 

 table, which shows the number of each class of seals contained in the same 13 drives, 

 it will be seen that out of 29,112 seals driven to the killing grounds only 540 were 

 yearlings, or 1,86 per cent. It was a constant source of wonder ou Bering Island, in 

 1895, what had become of the yearlings. From time to time it was confidently 

 predicted that they would turn up "later," but they did not come at all. There was 

 a slight proportionate increase after the middle of August, but too trifling to amount 

 to anything. And again I must emphasize the fact that the rookery was scraped 

 clean in search of seals. This fact is startlingly disclosed by the following table, and 

 because of its great importance it requires a full explanation : 



Details of 13 drives on north rookery, Bering Island, 1895, showing sex and age of seals driven. 



