THE FUE SEAL: AERIVAL OF THE BULLS. 77 



eminent of all polygamists in the brute world, I shall carefully relate ; and to ftilly comprehend 

 the method of this exceedingly interesting animal, it will be frequently necessary for the reader 

 to refer to my sketch-maps of its breeding-grounds or rookeries, and the Islands. 



Arrival at the seal grounds: Coming in op the bulls. — The adult males are the first 

 examples of the Callorhinus to arrive in the spring on the seal ground, which has been deserted by 

 all of them since the close of the preceding year. 



Between the Ist and 5th of May, usually, a few males will be found scattered over the rook- 

 eries, pretty close to the water. They are at this time quite shy and sensitive, seeming not yet 

 satisfied with the land ; and a great many spend day after day idly swimming out among the 

 breakers, a little distance from the shore, before tbey come to it, perhaps somewhat reluctant at 

 first to enter upon the assiduous duties and the grave responsibilities before them in fighting for 

 and maintaining their positions in the rookeries. 



The first arrivals are not always the oldest bulls, but may be said to be the finest and most 

 ambitious of their class. They are full grown and able to hold their places on the rookeries of the 

 breeding-flats, which they immediately take up after coming ashore. Their method of landing is 

 to come collectively to those breeding-grounds where they passed the prior season; but I am not 

 able to say authoritatively, nor do I believe it, strongly as it has been urged by many careful men 

 who were with me on the islands, that these animals come back to and take up the same position 

 on their breeding-grounds that they individually occupied when there last year. From my knowl- 

 edge of their action and habit, and from what I have learned of the natives, I should say that 

 very few, if any, of them make such a selection and keep these places year after year. Even did 

 the Seal itself intend to come directly from the sea to that spot on the rookery wfiich it left last 

 summer, what could it do if it came to that rookery margin a little late and found that another 

 "See-catch" had occupied its ground? The bull could do nothing. It would either have to die in 

 its tracks, if it persisted' in attaining this supposed objective point, or do what undoubtedly it 

 does do — seek the next best locality which it can attain adjacent. 



One old "See-catch" was pointed out to me at the "Gorbatch" section of the Eeef Eookery 

 as an animal that was long known to the natives as a regular visitor close by or on the same rock 

 every season during the past three years. They called him " Old John," and they said they knew 

 him because he had one of his posterior digits missing, bitten off, perhaps, in a combat. I saw 

 him in 1872, and made careful drawings of him in order that I might recognize his individuality 

 should he appear again in the following year, and when that time rolled by I found him not ; he 

 failed to reappear, and the natives acquiesced in his absence. Of course it was impossible to say 

 that he was dead when there were ten thousand rousing, fighting bulls to the right, left, and below 

 us, under our eyes, for we could not approach for inspection. Still, if these animals came each to a 

 certain place in any general fashion, or as a rule, 1 think there would be no difflculty in recog- 

 nizing the fact; the natives certainly would do so; as it is, they do not. 1 think it very likely, 

 however, that the older bulls come back to the same common rookery-ground where they spent 

 the previous season ; but they are obliged to take up their position on it just as the circumstances 

 attending their arrival will permit, such as finding other Seals which have arrived before them, or 

 of being whipped out by stronger rivals from their old stands. 



It is entertaining to note, in this connection, that the Eussians themselves, with the object of 

 testing this mooted query, during the later years of their possession of the islands, drove up a 

 number of young males from Lukannon, cut ofi" their ears, and turned them out to sea again. The 

 following season, when the droves came in from the "hauling-grounds" to the slaughtering- fields, 

 quite a number of those cropped Seals were in the drives, but instead of being found all at one 



