98 NATURAL HISTOKY OF AQUATIC ANIMALS. 



of the reader to another verj' remarkable feature in the economy of the seal-life on these islands. 

 The great herds of " HoUuschickie," ^ numbering from one-third to one-half, perhaps, of the whole 

 aggregate of near 5,000,000 Seals known to the Pribylov group, are never allowed by the "See- 

 catchie," under the pain of frightful mutilation or death , to put their flippers on or near the rookeries. 



By reference to my map, it will be observed that I have located a large extent of ground- 

 markedly so on Saint Paul— as that occupied by the Seals' "hauling-grounds"; this area, in fact, 

 represents those portions of the island upon which the "Holluschickie" roam in their heavy 

 squadrons, wearing off" and polishing the surface of the soil, stripping every foot, which is indicated 

 on the chart as such, of its vegetation and mosses, leaving the margin as sharply defined on the 

 i)luffy uplands and sandy flats as it is on the map itself. 



The reason that so much more land is covered by the "Holluschickie" thau by the breeding 

 Seals— ten times as much at least— is due to the fact, that though not as numerous, perhaps, as the 

 breeding Seals, they are tied down to nothing, so to speak— are wholly irresponsible, and roam 

 hither and thither as caprice and the weather may dictate. Thus they wear off and rub down a 

 much larger area than the rookery Seals occupy ; wandering aimlessly, and going back, in some 

 instances, notably at English Bay, from one-half to a whole mile inland, not traveling in desultory 

 flies along winding, straggling paths, but sweeping in solid platoons, they obliterate every spear of 

 grass and rub down nearly every hummock in their way. 



Definition of "Holluschickie."— All the male Seals, from six years of age, are compelled 

 to herd apart by themselves and away from the breeding-grounds, in many cases far away ; the 

 large hauling-grounds at Southwest Point being about two miles from the nearest rookery. This 

 class of Seals is termed "Holluschickie" or the "Bachelor" Seals by the natives, a most fitting and 

 expressive appellation. 



The Seals of this great subdivision are those with which the natives on' the Pribylov group are 

 the most familiar : naturally and especially so, since they are the only ones, with the exception of 

 a few thousand pups, and occasionally an old bull or two, taken late in the fall for food and skins, 

 which are driven up to the killing grounds at the village for slaughter. The reasons for this exclu- 

 sive attention to the " Bachelors" are most cogent, and will be given hereafter when the " business" 

 is discussed. 



Locating the hauling-geounds: Paths theoxjg-h the rookeries. — Since the "Hollu- 

 schickie" are not permitted by their own kind to land on the rookeries and stop there, they have 

 the choice of two methods of locating, one of which allows them to rest in the rear of the rookeries, 

 and the other on the free beaches. The most notable illustration of the former can be witnessed 

 on Eeef Point, where a pathway ics left for their ingress and egress through a rookery — a path left 

 by common consent, as it were, between the harems. On these trails of passage they come and go 

 in steady files all day and all night during the season, unmolested by the jealous bulls which guard 

 the seraglios on either side as they travel ; all peace and comfort to the young Seal if he minds 

 his business and keeps straight on up or down, without stopping to nose about right or left; all 

 woe and desolation to him, however, if he does not, for in that event he will be literally torn in 

 bloody griping, from limb to limb, by the vigilant old " Seecatchie." 



Since the two and three year old "Holluschickie" come up in small squads with the first bulls 

 in the spring, or a few d.iys later, such common highM'ays as those between the rookery -ground 

 and the sea are traveled over before the arrival of the cows, and get well defined. A passage for 

 the "Bachelors," which I took much pleasure in observing day after day at Polavina, another at 

 Tolstoi, and two on the Eeef, in 1872, were entirely closed up by the "Seecatchie" and obliterated, 



' The Russian term "Holluschickie" or "Bachelors" is very appropriate, and is usually employed. 



