THE RUSSIAN FUR-SEAL ISLANDS. 
G7 
up bravely without retreating, even agaiust a number of men, but it is also true that 
a good many of them do not. Lest the more cowardly conduct of some bulls slioidd 
be charged to an alleged lack of vitality in those of the present generation, I will only 
quote what 1 wrote immediately after my visit to the North Ileef Eookery, Bering 
Island, on June 5, 1883: 
Between 200 and 300 old bulls were scattered all over tlie ground, some sleeping, some lighting; 
others rose up, somewhat uneasy at our a])proach ; others, again, gallo])ed away as fast as tlieir short feet 
would carry them, plunging headlong into the water. A few would make a bold stand for some 
moments and roar at ns, but they soon turned, seeking to escape. None of those we approached very 
closely would keep their position. 
1 may cite another instance from a date mnch later in the season, but yet at a 
time when the females required the full attention of the bulls and on a rookery where 
the latter were plentiful and vigorous. The observation was made in Sikatchinskaya 
Bay, Palata Rookery, Coifper Island. Mr. Grebnitski had landed on a rock in the 
rookery to take a couifle of photograiihs, tvhile I, with the men, remained in the boat. 
The following is an abstract from my diary of August 3, 1895: 
It was a sight never to be forgotten. The females from all around rushed into the water pell- 
mell, while the old bulls were running to and fro trying to keep them back, though in some cases 
taking the panic themselves and following the example of the females, who made the water fairly 
boil around the boat by their jumjiing. On the nearest rocks hundreds of lilack pups were huddled 
together as close as they could stand, fearing to go into deep water; hut finally driven into it by the 
advance of the irhotographing jiarty, they swam with the utmost ease. Of all the many seals cover- 
ing the rocks around us when we first arrived, only two kept their places. These were an old bull 
and a matka in heat. Our boat was lying within 20 feet of them, yet they did not mind us, and the 
courting — the female did the courting — went on, although our presence evidently acted somewhat 
depressingly on the male, who anxiously kept an eye upon us, while yet unwilling to leave the female. 
Occasionally he screwed up enough courage to face us and roar defiantly, but as we approached to 
within 10 feet and I got up in the boat to lire my camera at him, he suddenly thought that discretion 
is the better part of valor, and plumped headlong into the water on the other side of the rock. Ho. 
came out and up on the, rock, however, a few minutes later and shook the water out of his fur, but 
the female had apparently' become disgusted with him, for, in spite of our retreating, she went into 
the water shortly after he had returned to her. He then also left for good. 
DO ALL BACHELORS HAUL OUT? 
The geueral impression, as derived both from the printed rei>orts and oral com- 
mnnications, seems to be that the vast majority, if not all, of the bachelors haul out 
on the beaches during the season. It would, of course, be impossible to say whether 
each individual bachelor does haul out at least once during the season, or whether 
some of them stay in tlie water throughout the entire year, but my observations lead 
me to believe that only a snialler portion of the Avhole body of bachelors haul out at 
any one time. That a good many of the seals in the water in the immediate neighbor- 
hood of the rookeries are bachelors, I know from personal observation, for the two 
sexes are more easily distinguished at a distance while in the water than on the rocks. 
These probably all haul out at some time or another. But the question is, does the 
bulk of the bachelors met with on the feeding-grounds and far away from the rook- 
eries during the breeding season also haul out ? I am inclined to believe that they 
do not, for the following reason: 
While it is true that the great rookery on Bering Island was never before “ raked 
and scraped” for the last bachelor seal as it was during the past season, yet it is not 
denied that a similar difficulty in gathering the requisite number of killableshas been 
